Fremont man fed up with copper thefts

Chuck Folsom knows all too well that prices for scrap copper are high.

He has had the copper wiring from one of his irrigation pivots north of Fremont stolen three times since March. The most recent theft was reported to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office Aug. 27.

The first two times he was hit, he replaced the copper wiring so the pivot would work -- once to the tune of about $9,000. The newest theft hasn’t been replaced yet.

“It’s still out because we aren’t going to irrigate anymore,” Folsom said.

It could have cost him even more, but he put the cables up himself and let experts wire them to the machine.

“On an older pivot, you can’t insure them 100 percent,” Folsom said. “You can insure them at 70 percent, but you still have a deductible.”

Travis Freund, president of Mid-Continent Irrigation, said he has employees dedicated to repairing pivots and they’re getting quite a workout this year.

“We’ve ordered over 100,000 feet of cable in the last 12 months,” Freund said. “Each pivot takes about

1,300 feet.”

He said there have been about 100 pivots hit in the triangular area his company covers from Ames to Ashland to Missouri Valley, Iowa. That’s 5 percent of the

2,000 pivots his company services.

“Now that irrigation season is over, we’re reluctant to put (the copper wiring) back on,” Freund said. “There’s some places in Missouri Valley where we put them on so the pivot can be moved and then take them back off.”

He said companies like Valmont are now manufacturing special clamps to reduce thefts, but Folsom had those on his pivot the last time he was victimized. Only three of the pivots he services have been robbed since the clamps were put on.

Even though copper is currently selling for more than $3 per pound, it costs more than the value of the copper to replace the wiring.

Freund said a few months ago he sold about 1/4 mile of copper wire and got about $850 for it. That’s much less than it costs farmers and insurance companies to replace the wires and repair the damage to the pivots.

“It’s looking like these guys are in and out of the fields in hours,” he said.

Dodge County Sheriff Steve Hespen said his office has taken 15 reports of copper wire stolen from irrigation pivots this year. Each loss averaged about $6,000 and most have taken place in the southeastern part of the county and around the city of Fremont.

“We’ve gotten calls from salvage companies when they’ve received what they thought was wire stolen from pivots,” Hespen said. “We’re not the only county suffering from pivot thefts. It’s difficult to tell where it came from.”

He said the county’s citizens can be the best tool in stopping the thefts and catching the criminals, but only if they act.

“Once people hear a theft has occurred, they say, ‘Oh yeah, I saw a car parked there,’” Hespen said. “We know there are people out there who know who is responsible for these thefts. Notify us of suspicious activity �” vehicles parked around fields, people walking around country roads at night. We encourage people to call us no matter how important or significant you feel it is, that’s why we’re here. If we respond and it’s a farmer checking his field, we don’t care.”

He said the community’s cooperation is what could solve the crimes.

“It’s a significant theft and we would definitely like to find those responsible,” Hespen said. “The deputies try to spend more time patrolling those areas, but the best resource we have is the cooperation of the public.”

Hespen asked that anyone with any information about the thefts call his office at 727-2700 or CrimeStoppers at 727-4002. Callers to CrimeStoppers can remain anonymous and Hespen said reward money is available for calls that lead to an arrest and conviction.