Thieves vandalize irrigation pivots

By Carrie A. Mizell

Bell farmer Kelly Philman is trying to get ready to harvest peanuts. Instead, the operator of 83 Farms LLC is having to worry about thieves who have been breaking into his fields and stealing copper wiring off his irrigation pivots.
“I just want to make all the other farmers and people in this area aware of what’s going on,” Philman said on Tuesday.

Philman and his employees called the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office to report the theft of copper wiring on irrigation pivots north of Bell last week.
According to Heath Carlisle, an 83 Farms LLC employee, a pivot on County Road 340 near the intersection of County Road 341 was vandalized first.
Thieves reportedly stole the copper wiring connecting the unit to its power source.
Carlisle estimated that it will cost 83 Farms LLC $2,772.43 to replace the wiring on the three tower pivot and that’s not counting labor expenses involved.
On Monday morning, Carlisle noticed a second irrigation pivot belonging to 83 Farms LLC had been vandalized. This time, thieves reportedly removed nearly $7,000 worth of wiring off the seven tower unit, which was set up in a field next to Mt. Nebo Baptist Church.
The thieves reportedly pulled down a graded road on the western border of the field, cut a barbed wire fence and walked through the peanuts to get across the field to the irrigation pivot.
A 20-year farmer, Philman said this summer marks the first time his irrigation pivots have been tampered with.
According to Lt. David Aderholt of the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office, two irrigation pivots in Gilchrist County belonging to White Farms and Michael Wilkerson were vandalized in the spring.
“We knew pivots were being vandalized in the surrounding area,” Philman said. “We just had our fingers crossed that it wouldn’t happen to us.”
Carlisle said 83 Farms LLC has between 50 and 60 irrigation pivots on acreage in Gilchrist, Levy, Alachua, Columbia and Suwannee counties, so staking out fields to watch for people trying to steal copper wiring off irrigation pivots is virtually impossible.
“It’s going to cost us in excess of $10,000 to repair the pivots, which are insured,” Philman said.
The crazy thing is, as Philman pointed out, once the thieves strip the copper wiring and sell it, they probably won’t get $1,000 for the wire.
Kelly Philman is working with the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office to catch whoever is responsible for vandalizing the pivots.
Philman is also offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the individuals responsible for the crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office at 463-3410.