Crops and ATV'ers caught/Arrested

I read the NYSP blotter regularly, and saw where 2 were caught and charged for damaging crops and trespassing. It's kind of a rarity to catch people trespassing, and causing crop damage. Surprising, as one of them I do know but not have spoken to in 20 years at least. They must have been doing something foolish, like we have all done at one time or another, just most go through that when a lot younger. Thing is, you never see any of them caught and actually charged. No doubt they can pay for the damages.

Been no trouble with ATV/trespass here for quite some time as all the landowners seem to work together and people don't seem to test us like they have in the past. I keep my signs up and for the most part as of late, politely explain to anyone I have run across that it's privately owned land and we'd appreciate if you would keep out. In the past I have run across a few nasty individuals and came close to an altercation when threatened by one just a few years back. It was at that time I decided if it came down to it, I would not hesitate if threatened like that again. Let the cards fall where they may, you won't tread on me on this land.

People get fired up over this, but how many are caught and charged in your area ?
ATVers Caught

They never get caught here except one time a guy was caught on camera trying to ram the doors down on the bank. It was just in the local paper a cranberry grower suffered over $10 000 damage from crop destruction and they vandalized his water pump and tractor while they were in there.

Cops for the most part don't want to be bothered even if a person has identified the trespasser. They will ask if you have posted or no trespassing signs up and how far apart. When you tell them the signs are not 50 or 100 feet apart regardless of how many acres then they are looking to be on the road to the next call.

Then if you caught someone, and there is no crop, so no crop damage, just a mess in the mud which may screw up your no-till plans, and/or help cause an erosion issue, you get no satisfaction either.

Here in WI we don't have to post our land to keep trespassers out. If you don't have permission STAY OUT. We do have to be able to identify the trespasser to get a conviction. A trailcam works for that purpose. The DNR in their great wisdom no longer requires backtags for deer hunting so it is harder to identify the individuals.

I just came down from the woods. Some AH drove all over the hay fields yesterday or today. Second time this year. I came out of the woods and my uncle was at the dumpsite burning some papers. Told him about it, but not much we can do about it, unless we catch him in the field. While there talking, a couple of ladies came out the road on horseback, and came over and talked to us. Then a side-by-side came up the farm road from the town road to where we were. He waved and I flagged him down. Turned out to be a guy that I know and he said he had noticed the tracks in the alfalfa last evening. He has been working on a house down the road and commuting with his UTV on the approved snowmobile trail. There are all kinds of signs on trail, saying to "Stay on Trail" . Ronnie said if he sees them he WILL find out who He/They are.
Loren

I am sure there are other states that have an abundance of lawyers in politics but in New York we have far too many so we can't get common sense to prevail. It would be far too easy to work it in terms of having permission. Either you have a note or can go to the landowner to vouch you have permission. At least adverse possession seems to have been nipped in the bud a few years back. Must be somebody tried it and succeeded on one of our great politicians. Here's to hoping the same happens with some trespasser.

Supposedly here in Minnesota they are not supposed to go on any ag land without permission.
Year ago some made a trek through bean field about half mile long over the 4rth of July. Made enough trips to pretty much kill everything in the wheel tracks but they were soooo kind to only leave one set of tracks. Followed the dirt track "home" and went into their yard. Rang the homeowners door bell and asked kindly if they or their kids would stay out of the fields which were all rented out. "How do you know its my kids?" was the question put back to me. Because I followed the tracks to the back of your yard. Again he says How do you know it's us? Now I am not in so kind of a mood. But still nice I says to just make sure no one goes out there and ruins someone elses crop. This guy is quite a stinker and getting stinkier. Hey I let horse people ride in my yard. I says good for you, but I don't want wheelers ruining crops on my land! He says He don't care who goes on his land and it's a "neigborhood" and people should be able to go where-ever. Well I don't care what you do in your neighborhood but stay out of our fields. We have had several run-ins with kids on wheelers and asked them nicely to stay out. His wife finally breaks us up cause voices are being raised after more back and forth. I made sure to put up no tresspass signs, then week later the guy makes a stink about that one day while I'm picking up the mail. Asks me about them- I reply they mean what they say- No Tresspass without permission! Still he makes bunch more stink about it.

Guess I don't understand the new mentality of everyone's is mine!

Yea here in MN AG land doesn't need to be posted. The catch is most often the cops won't do anything because of the courts. Seems that the courts don't accept picture or surveillance footage (good for other crimes but not trespassing) or eye witnesses who are not trained law enforcement. As far as trespassing goes this is mostly to protect the tourist even though they are seldom the problem. Most often here it's the local kids from town.

Few years back a local guy's kid was running through a bunch of farm fields including mine on his snowmobile. I caught him a couple of times and got mealy mouthed responses from the kid. I finally went and saw his dad. "You sure it's my kid" "I don't think he'd do that" and so on. So being childish I ran my sled through his yard, I even stopped a waved. After about the 3rd time the guy comes to see me. "You sure it's me" "got pictures" ECT........didn't have anymore problems with his kid after that. The kids, now a young man, has come and apologized for that stuff. He think's it hilarious what I did to his dad. Kid has turned into a pretty good young man.


Rick

Here in Ohio Don't know who is correct, Law says you do NOT have to have no trespassing signs up, Judge says yes you do so who is correct. Few years tresspasser that tried to ram my truck cost me a couple of thousand dollars.

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Some people think they have a right to access other people's private property.
People cut through my place for a short cut to another road. Just bothers me, they don't even stop to ask is it ok. Brother had problems with motorcycles, horse people, and balloon chase trucks cutting his fence to get on the land he leased for his cattle, then he gets a call from the police, your cattle are out. He could never catch anyone, since he lived 5 miles away. He had someone living on the land, but he couldn't not see everything. One time he caught the balloon people there, and chased them to a building. He never found them, so he let the air out of their tires. He also lost a few cattle to dogs, but that's another story. Stan

Had one here 5 years or so ago get caught stealing scrap out of our shed one morning. Neighbor approached him and he took off through the corn field. A few minutes l after he came out on the other side and though he was home free. A description was called in and the corn still hanging off his truck gave it away. He spent some time in the jail for that one along with his stellar record. Then about a year later I ran across his obituary in the paper.

Next one a guy was running from the cops in the daylight. He took off down the neighbors lane and ended up crossing the creek where we had lots of concrete piled at the crossing. That took out his steering and he ended up high centered on the dirt pile. He took off on foot into the corn but they caught him an hour or so later.

The BTO next to me likes to turn around at his corners on my hay fields and tends to drift spray the west end of my fields about 10' wide. 2 years ago he drove about 1400' thru my top field, cutting from one of his to another. And that 200hp tractor is a lot heavier than an ATV. Does that count? Neighbors are a pain. Even farmer neighbors. What gives?

A friend was having problems with four wheelers riding the power line through his property, and then when they came to a wet area, taking the fence down and going out into his hay field. One day he heard them down there, and jumped in his truck and went around on the town road. He beat them to the road crossing and got out cradling his shotgun in his arm and asked them nicely if they would like to donate to a fund to pay for crop damage. He said that they were pretty generous. I told him that I though that he was getting pretty close to the edge.

Best way we found to keep trespassers off of our farm land was too leave a big mean looking bull out in the fields in the fall when hunting season opened up along with the rest of the cattle. Not many people will argue with a 2000lb bull.

Many years ago, my grandfather had a guy in his mid twenties (should have known better) rut up his bean field, and get stuck. Granddaddy stuck a rag in his gas tank, and made him light it. Lessons learned I guess.

(quoted from post at 12:45:41 09/23/17) Cops for the most part don't want to be bothered even if a person has identified the trespasser. They will ask if you have posted or no trespassing signs up and how far apart. When you tell them the signs are not 50 or 100 feet apart regardless of how many acres then they are looking to be on the road to the next call.

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Depends on who you're dealing with and where you are must be. I put a lot of time and effort into trying to find trespassers. Got lucky sometimes, but it's pretty hard to find a trespasser when you nothing to go on other than some atv tracks in a field.

My biggest problem is snowmobiles running my alfalfa hay fields. Can take you out following summer and show you exactly where they ran. Can do a lot of tresspassing at 70 to 100 mph. Impossible to chase or track them down on the roads with a car. Police are not able to do anything. Rarely hear of a prosecution. Wheeled toys are common around here, but they have been lately misusing their priveleges on the roads. Friend is a CO and he indicates it is tough to get convictions, and he usually does vrrbal warnings.