Almond harvest delayed after Fresno County farmer's equipment is stolen

Saturday, September 28, 2024 8:56PM PT
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Cook Ag Services is wrapping up their season of harvesting almonds but there is a little delay.

The owner Jim Cook said on Monday, they noticed a valuable and important piece of equipment was missing.

"We came back on Monday, and sometime between Saturday evening around 5 o'clock and Monday, around 10:30 and 11 o'clock, we noticed that one of the trucks was missing," said Cook.

Cook said the missing Jackrabbit Harvester is pushing back production for at least a week.

"It's slowing down the production of the harvester so instead of getting six loads a day, we're gonna get three or four loads a day because the harvesters are doing less work," said Cook.



He said the weather has been good to his crops this year but the further they push back production, the more concerned he gets.

The Jackrabbit has a value of almost $160,000. Insurance won't cover the cost of his farm equipment. So, if his truck isn't found, Cook said he'll have to spend close to $200,000 for a new piece of equipment. It's money he said he doesn't have.

As the detectives at the Fresno County Sheriff's Office Ag Task Force continue to search for Cook's farm machine, he hopes the person responsible does the right thing and returns his equipment.

"They're not just hurting myself and my wife, but they're hurting all the families that we employ. Because it's literally taking money off the table and it's taking our ability to make a profit off of the table. We have the same amount of people working the same amount of hours, doing a lot less work," said Cook.

Anyone with helpful information is encouraged to contact investigators at the Fresno County Sheriff's Office or Valley Crime Stoppers.

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