A local landowner wants to raise awareness about the damage off-road vehicles can cause to farmers’ fields.
Late Monday morning, residents near Zone Centre Line called police about a stolen ATV that was being driven through fields and into a bush. Witnesses say the vehicle tore up farm land, damaging crops, and causing thousands of dollars in damage. With the help of dozens of neighbours in the area, officers were able to track the vehicle and arrest the driver.
Emery Huszka farms between Bothwell and Florence and was one of those involved. He says those in the agriculture industry face a lot of challenges from politics to weather, but situations like this week’s incident shouldn’t be one of them.
“It’s very frustrating when our crops are injured by willful damage, and in this case, someone stole a four-wheeler and whipped through a field. I guess they thought it was just grass,” Huszka says. “I have wheat damage, my neighbours had corn run over, that corn’s not going to stand up again. Those are real economic damages.”
Monday’s incident is just one story among many. Each year, both summer and winter, farmers in the area deal with off-road vehicles and snowmobiles whipping across their properties, damaging crops and compacting soil, all of which comes at a cost.
Huszka says he wishes more off-road drivers understood the damage driving through fields can cause.
“If we went through your front lawn and ripped up the grass and you had to pay for new sod to be replaced, you’d feel that economic pinch. When a farmer goes to their field and sees an acre of wheat, that’s about 100 bushels lost, and a $13 a bushel, that’s economic loss and nobody lines up to pay us back for it.”
Huszka says more discussions need to be had about respecting the farmers who grow our food and educating kids about private property.
