According to Wausau's WSAW, farmers have found their agricultural equipment is missing some of its metal components, incluidng copper wiring and aluminium parts. Portage County Sheriff's Department Captain Dale O'Kray told the television station the metals are being stolen and then resold.
O'Kray said that because farmers usually don't interact with their equipment much during the winter months, these thefts can go undetected for some time.
"Most of the time they like to leave those things out in the fields but for a thief that's easier to access, nobody's around, it's out in the middle of nowhere, and so they have time to steal these things," O'Kray told the television station.
Wisconsin is not the only state seeing this problem. Even before the recession, metal prices were high, which encouraged thieves to steal components from constuction sites and telecommunications arrays.
During the recession, these thefts may have become more common as people tried to find a way to make a quick buck during tough economic times.
