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

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Cook Ag Services is wrapping up their play of harvesting almonds but determination is simply a small delay.

The proprietor Jim Cook said connected Monday, they noticed a invaluable and important portion of instrumentality was missing.

"We came backmost connected Monday, and sometime betwixt Saturday evening astir 5 o'clock and Monday, astir 10:30 and 11 o'clock, we noticed that 1 of the trucks was missing," said Cook.

Cook said the missing Jackrabbit Harvester is pushing backmost accumulation for astatine slightest a week.

"It's slowing down the accumulation of the harvester truthful alternatively of getting six loads a day, we're gonna get 3 oregon 4 loads a time due to the fact that the harvesters are doing little work," said Cook.

He said the upwind has been bully to his crops this twelvemonth but the further they propulsion backmost production, the much acrophobic helium gets.

The Jackrabbit has a worth of astir $160,000. Insurance won't screen the outgo of his workplace equipment. So, if his motortruck isn't found, Cook said he'll person to walk adjacent to $200,000 for a caller portion of equipment. It's wealth helium said helium doesn't have.

As the detectives astatine the Fresno County Sheriff's Office Ag Task Force proceed to hunt for Cook's workplace machine, helium hopes the idiosyncratic liable does the close happening and returns his equipment.

"They're not conscionable hurting myself and my wife, but they're hurting each the families that we employ. Because it's virtually taking wealth disconnected the array and it's taking our quality to marque a nett disconnected of the table. We person the aforesaid magnitude of radical moving the aforesaid magnitude of hours, doing a batch little work," said Cook.

Anyone with adjuvant accusation is encouraged to interaction investigators astatine the Fresno County Sheriff's Office oregon Valley Crime Stoppers.

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