Farmer looking at an empty pumpkin patch after theft, with a trail camera on a fence post and tyre tracks to an open farm gate

Thieves Stole 95% of a Family's Pumpkin Field Just Before Their Big Farm Event: 7 Security Moves Every Pick-Your-Own Farm Needs

2 hours ago

15 min read

In the run-up to their first big farm event, Vicky and Tyler Meyers should have been painting signs and counting pumpkins.

Instead, they were writing a post nobody ever wants to write.

Meyers Family Farm, a first-year farm in Capron, Illinois, about 77 miles northwest of Chicago, had been chosen as one of two new farms on the 2026 Boone County Farm Stroll. That's a free, self-guided October tour where local families drive from farm to farm with a paper "passport" in hand. For a brand-new farm, a spot on that map is gold.

The family had planted about 1,000 pumpkin plants. Their specialty and stacker pumpkins were already harvested. What was left in the field were the classic orange pumpkins, the ones kids run between the rows to choose.

Then, shortly before the Stroll, someone took them. Nearly 200 pumpkins. About 95% of what was still in the field. On September 24 the farm told its customers, in a short, sad post, that someone had entered the field and taken the remaining pumpkins.

None of the pumpkins were insured.

If you run a pick-your-own farm, a pumpkin patch or a farm stand, this story is a warning. The week before your biggest event is when your crop is worth the most and watched the least. The good news is that most of the protection you need is cheap, simple and can be done this weekend.

The short answer: how to protect a pick-your-own farm from theft

1. Don't leave your whole crop in the field before a big event.

2. Count it, photograph it and log it every evening.

3. Close the easy way in: lock field gates and block lanes.

4. Point cameras and lights at the ways in and out, not the middle of the field.

5. Recruit your neighbours as extra eyes.

6. Protect the cash at your stand or honesty box.

7. Have a written theft response plan, and check your insurance before you need it.

What Happened at Meyers Family Farm

Orange pumpkins ready for picking in a farm field — Illustrative photo, not Meyers Family Farm. Photo: Steven Van Elk on Unsplash.

Here is the story as it was reported by NBC Chicago, ABC7 Chicago, WIFR, Patch and The Independent.

When	What happened
Spring and summer 2026	First season growing pumpkins; about 1,000 pumpkin plants in the ground
Before the theft	Specialty and stacker pumpkins already harvested and kept safe
Shortly before the Stroll (exact date not reported)	Thieves take nearly 200 orange pumpkins straight from the field
September 24	The farm tells customers on social media
September 25	The family shares a possible description of the people involved and asks everyone not to confront them
Before October 4	The farm cancels pumpkin picking from its own field and offers refunds on pumpkin orders
October 4	Boone County Farm Stroll goes ahead; pumpkins offered by two neighbouring farms let the Meyers family take part

A few details stand out.

It wasn't only them. The farm said it knew of several other farms that had people in their fields, and said thefts were hitting other farms around Poplar Grove and Capron. Thieves who take pumpkins by the truckload rarely stop at one field.

The money wasn't what hurt most. The family said publicly that financially, this was not a setback. What hurt most, they wrote, was "thinking about the families and children" who had planned to pick from that field.

The neighbours showed up. Two nearby farms, TJ's Market and Twisted Root, offered to share their own pumpkins so the Meyers family could still be part of the Stroll. The family plans to add security cameras before next season.

The Meyers family are not the first. In 2025, about 300 pumpkins were taken from Sam's Pumpkin Patch in Pickerington, Ohio, run by an 85-year-old farmer, a loss of more than $6,000 at around $20 a pumpkin.

Why the Week Before an Event Is Your Riskiest Week

Think about what a thief sees in the days before your big weekend:

Your crop is at its peak. Ripe, sized, ready to sell.
Your dates are public. Flyers, Facebook events, tour maps and newspaper listings tell everyone when your field will be full.
You're distracted. You're booking toilets, training helpers and building signs. Nobody is watching the far field at 2 a.m.
Your field is easy to reach. Many pick-your-own fields have a lane straight from the road, wide enough for a pickup truck.

How common is farm theft? Nobody really knows, and that is part of the problem. In the United States there's no national count. When California set up its rural crime program in the 1990s, lawmakers noted that no national or state agency kept track of agricultural crime.

Where theft is counted, the numbers are hard to ignore:

£41.5 million: cost of UK rural theft in 2025 (NFU Mutual)

42% higher: rural crime rate in Canada compared with its towns and cities in 2024 (Statistics Canada)

About 40%: share of rural crimes that research cited by Harper Adams University suggests ever reach an insurer

Bar chart of UK rural theft in 2025: quad bike theft up 31%, livestock up nearly 30%, farm vehicles up 18%, all rural theft down 6%, GPS units down 80% — UK rural theft fell slightly overall in 2025, but thieves moved to quads, livestock and farm vehicles. Source: NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report 2026.

That last number matters for pumpkin patches and farm stands, because small thefts often cost less than a policy excess and never get reported. In Norfolk, England, egg farmers David and Julie Barber found they were losing about £150 of eggs a week from their honesty box before they switched to a pay-first vending machine.

And a theft nobody reports, to police or insurer, never shows up in anyone's numbers.

7 Security Moves Every Pick-Your-Own Farm Needs

Good farm security isn't one expensive gadget. It's layers.

Five layers of pick-your-own farm security: deter, delay, detect, document and respond — The five layers of farm security. The cheapest layers at the top often stop the most theft.

Move No. 1: Don't Leave the Whole Crop in the Field

Harvested pumpkins stored in a wagon beside a barn — Harvested stock kept by the barn, where people and lights are, is far harder to steal than a full field by the road. Illustrative photo. Photo: Ginger Jordan on Unsplash.

The easiest way to stop a thief taking your whole crop is not to leave your whole crop where a truck can reach it.

In the week before a big event, consider:

Harvesting part of the crop early and storing it somewhere locked or watched: a barn, a shipping container, or beside the house where there are lights, dogs and people. Bring it out each open morning.
Picking down the rows nearest the road and leaving the best fruit deep in the field, far from any vehicle access.
Holding back reserve stock of a different kind. Notice that the Meyers family's specialty and stacker pumpkins, already harvested, were not taken.

If you grow pumpkins, my guide on how to start a pumpkin patch covers how much to plant and how to stage stock for busy weekends.

Field-Tested Play: line up a "pumpkin partner" now. Two neighbouring farms rescued the Meyers family's Farm Stroll by sharing their pumpkins. Don't wait for a disaster to find out who would help you. Before each season, agree with one or two nearby growers that you'll sell each other stock at a fair price if either of you is hit by theft, hail or drought. Farms that bought in pumpkins kept their gates open in the 2026 pumpkin patch drought too.

Move No. 2: Count It, Photograph It, Log It

If you can't say what you had, you can't prove what you lost.

Police and insurers need a number, and you need to notice a loss fast. Every evening in season, and twice a day before a big event, record:

How many saleable units are in each row, bin or display (a row-by-row estimate is fine)
A dated photo of each row from the same spot each time
Anything odd: tyre tracks, a cut fence, flattened vines, a stranger asking when you close

Try my 24-hour rule: if a big part of your crop vanished tonight, would anyone notice by this time tomorrow? If not, a five-minute evening count is the cheapest security you'll ever buy.

At Sam's Pumpkin Patch in Ohio, about 300 pumpkins were taken over roughly a week. The owner found out when he saw knocked-down vines while spraying.

Move No. 3: Close the Easy Way In

Wooden farm gate closed with a chain at sunset — A chained gate won't stop a determined thief, but it adds time, noise and effort. Illustrative photo. Photo: Alexander Mass on Unsplash.

Nobody steals 200 pumpkins in their arms. They need a vehicle and a quick way out. Make that hard.

Lock field gates whenever you're closed. A chain and padlock adds time and noise.
Block field lanes you don't use with round bales, logs, a parked trailer or a cable across the opening.
Keep one entrance only for visitors, and close the rest at night.
Fit motion lights at the gate, the farm stand and anywhere stock is stored.
Pocket your keys. Never leave a tractor and trailer in the field overnight; they can be used to steal your crop. An Ontario Provincial Police constable once estimated that half of vehicle thefts could be prevented simply by pocketing your keys.

Move No. 4: Point Cameras at the Ways In and Out

Outdoor security camera mounted on a tree trunk — Cameras don't need a wall. A tree or post at the gate works. Illustrative photo. Photo: Rynco Maekawa on Unsplash.

A camera in the middle of a field films the back of someone's head in the dark. A camera at your gate films the truck and, with the right light and angle, the number plate.

Map of a pick-your-own farm showing cameras at the main gate, the field lane, the farm stand and the field corner, with motion lights — Cover the ways in and out first: main gate (A), field lane (B), farm stand and till (C), then one camera across the most valuable part of the field (D).

Do cameras and lights really work? The strongest research comes from towns, not farms, but it points the same way. A review of 76 studies found CCTV cut crime by 13% on average, and by 37% in car parks. The effect was bigger when cameras were watched and combined with other measures. A separate review found better lighting cut crime by about 21%.

Bar chart: CCTV in car parks cut crime 37%, better lighting 21%, CCTV and property crime 14%, CCTV and all crime 13% — Cameras and lights work best together, and best where vehicles come and go. Public-place studies, not farm studies.

Camera type	Best for	Watch out for
Cellular trail camera	Remote gates and field lanes with no power or Wi-Fi	Needs a data plan and fresh batteries; test the night photos
Solar 4G security camera	Main gate, field lane, car park	Needs mobile signal; mount it high so it can't be grabbed
Wi-Fi camera and recorder	Farm stand, till, barn, house yard	Only works in Wi-Fi range; hide the recorder
Licence-plate camera	One entrance where every car slows down	Must be angled low and close; check local privacy rules

Three settings matter more than the brand: phone alerts, so a 2 a.m. truck wakes you instead of just being recorded; a night picture good enough to read a plate; and footage saved to the cloud, where a thief can't carry it away.

Then put up a camera warning sign. Stopping a theft is far cheaper than solving one. In California, Solvang Farmer Pumpkin Patch added a camera and motion lights after trespassers were seen leaving its corn maze at about 1:30 in the morning.

Move No. 5: Recruit Your Neighbours

Your neighbours see your farm when you can't.

Tell close neighbours your event dates and ask them to call you (not post online) if they see vehicles near your fields at night.
Start a simple group chat with nearby farms to share sightings. When thieves hit one farm, they often hit others nearby, as the Meyers family said happened around Capron and Poplar Grove.
Join or start a rural crime watch with your sheriff's office or local police. Canada's rural crime watch groups also advise against posting your travel plans on social media.

Reality Check: never confront a thief. Your crop isn't worth your life. Stay back, stay in your vehicle if you can, note the vehicle, plate, direction and time, film from a safe distance and call the police. The Meyers family gave their community the same advice.

Move No. 6: Protect the Cash

In August 2025, the honour-system cash box at Long Lane Farm in Warren, Rhode Island, was broken into and emptied. A neighbour's Ring camera caught the suspect's car. Customers sent donations, and the farm put most of it toward a security system.

Bolt the cash box down and use a slot no hand can reach into.
Empty it at least daily and never leave cash out overnight.
Offer card or phone payment with a printed QR code, so less cash sits in the box. My guide to selling event tickets without losing money on fees also helps you take more money before visitors arrive.
Point a camera at the stand and say so on a sign.
For staffed tills, two people count the till, the float is fixed, and cash leaves in a locked bag at set times.

For more on laying out a stand that sells well and stays secure, see how to set up a farm stand to attract visitors.

Move No. 7: Write Your Theft Response Plan Before You Need It

If you're hit, the first hour matters, and you won't be thinking clearly. Fill this in now.

Step	What to do
1. Stay safe	Don't touch tracks or damage. Don't confront anyone.
2. Call the police	Report it, even if it seems small. Get a case number.
3. Record everything	Photos, video, tonight's count vs. your last count, footage saved to a second place.
4. Call your insurer	Ask what's covered and what they need. Many insurers require a police report.
5. Warn neighbours	Message nearby farms and your watch group.
6. Tell your customers	Short and honest: what happened, what's still on, refunds if needed.
7. Find stock	Call your "pumpkin partner" farms.
8. Fix the gap	What let this happen, and what changes this week.

The Meyers family did step 6 beautifully: they told customers quickly, offered refunds and thanked their neighbours in public. That's how you protect your reputation when you can't protect your crop.

A written plan like this is also part of a bigger agritourism risk management plan, which every visitor farm should have.

What the Law Says About Farm Theft and Trespass

General information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state, province and country, and they change. Always check your situation with a local lawyer.

Theft is usually graded by value. In Illinois, theft of property worth more than $500 (up to $10,000) is a Class 3 felony, while theft of $500 or less is a misdemeanor. That's another reason to keep dated counts. The value you can prove may change how seriously a theft is treated.

Purple paint can mean "keep out." At least a dozen US states, Illinois among them, let landowners mark boundaries with purple paint on trees or posts. Illinois sets rules for the size, height and spacing of the marks, and the law doesn't apply in cities of more than 2 million people.

Driving onto crop land is a step up. In Illinois, driving onto crop fields or orchards after you've been told entry is forbidden (by signs, purple paint or in person) is a Class A misdemeanor, more serious than ordinary trespass.

You can't booby-trap your farm. In the famous Iowa case Katko v. Briney (1971), farm owners rigged a shotgun in an empty farmhouse. An intruder was badly hurt and won $20,000 in actual damages and $10,000 in punitive damages. Courts value human safety above property.

In England, trespass on land is generally a civil matter, and police warn that forcibly removing a trespasser can itself be a crime.

Illinois has no agritourism liability law. Many states limit your liability for the normal risks of farm activities if you post the right warning signs. Illinois doesn't, and its recreational use law generally doesn't protect farms that charge for entry. Check where your state stands in my 50-state guide to agritourism laws, then make sure your signs match it with where to post agritourism warning signs.

The Insurance Gap Most Pick-Your-Own Farms Don't See

Here's the part most farmers get wrong. Even if the Meyers family had crop insurance, it almost certainly would not have paid for stolen pumpkins.

US federal crop insurance covers unavoidable, naturally occurring events like drought, flood and hail. Its basic rules exclude losses caused by any act of a person that affects your crop. Theft is a human act.

And a standard farm property policy generally doesn't cover crops still growing in the field. They usually become covered once they're harvested and stored. That is one more reason to bring part of your crop in before a big event (Move No. 1).

There's a second gap, on the liability side. Many basic farm liability policies exclude "business" activities beyond farming, which can include tours, pick-your-own, mazes, hayrides and festivals, unless your insurer knows about them and adds them to the policy.

Your risk	Crop insurance?	Basic farm policy?	What to ask your agent
Hail or drought destroys the crop	Usually yes	Usually no	Am I enrolled? What's my coverage level?
Pumpkins stolen from the field	No	Generally no	Can growing crops be covered at all?
Harvested pumpkins stolen from the barn	No	Possibly	Are stored crops covered? Where?
Cash stolen from the stand	No	Often limited	What's my cash limit? Is a safe required?
A visitor trips in the patch	No	Often excluded	Do I need an agritourism endorsement?

Ask your agent these questions in writing, activity by activity. My guides to agritourism insurance: what it covers and what it costs and what to do when your farm insurer says no walk you through the conversation. If you use waivers too, read do liability waivers protect your farm first.

What a Short Season Teaches You

On my own farm, Bloopy Durians in Bentong, Malaysia, our durian seasons last only about four to five months a year, so one bad week hurts. Like the Meyers family, we rely on loyal customers: we keep a WhatsApp list of regulars who buy whenever durians are available. A farm that keeps talking honestly to its customers can survive a bad week.

Your Pre-Event Security Checklist

Print this and run through it the week before any big open day.

☐ Part of the crop harvested and stored somewhere locked or watched

☐ Evening stock count and photos started, with a written log

☐ Field gates locked; unused lanes blocked; keys out of all vehicles

☐ Motion lights working at the gate, stand and stock store

☐ Cameras at each vehicle entrance and the stand, phone alerts on, night picture tested

☐ Camera signs posted

☐ Neighbours told your dates; farm group chat set up

☐ Cash box bolted down; card or QR payment ready; cash rules set

☐ Police non-emergency and insurer claims numbers saved in your phone

☐ Insurance answers in writing: growing crops, stored crops, cash, visitor activities

☐ "Pumpkin partner" farm lined up

☐ Theft response plan printed and pinned up

Security is only one part of being ready for visitors. Toilets, parking, hazards, signs and staff all matter too. If you want to know where your farm stands overall, read 21 signs your farm is ready for paying visitors and my list of 10 common agritourism safety hazards.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I stop people stealing pumpkins from my pumpkin patch?

Give thieves less to take and make it hard to drive in. Harvest part of the crop before big events and store it somewhere locked or watched, lock field gates, block unused lanes, and put cameras and motion lights at the ways in and out. Count your stock every evening so you notice a loss within a day.

Does crop insurance cover stolen crops?

In the US, federal crop insurance covers unavoidable, natural events such as drought, flood and hail, and its basic rules exclude losses caused by the acts of people, so theft generally isn't covered. Standard farm property policies also generally exclude crops still growing in the field. Ask your agent in writing what is and isn't covered.

Where should I put security cameras on a farm?

Start with every vehicle entrance (main gate and field lanes), then your farm stand or till, then one camera across your most valuable field. A camera at the gate can capture the vehicle and plate; a camera in the middle of a field usually can't.

What is the purple paint law?

In at least a dozen US states, purple paint marks on trees or posts can legally mean "no trespassing," just like a sign. Each state sets its own rules for the marks. In Illinois, for example, the law sets the size, height and spacing of the marks, and it doesn't apply in cities of more than 2 million people.

Should I report a small theft to the police?

Yes. Many insurers require a police report for any theft claim, and police can only spot a pattern across farms if farmers report. Research cited by Harper Adams University suggests only about 40% of rural crimes ever reach an insurer.

Get Your Farm Visitor-Ready Before Your Next Big Day

Security is one of seven things that decide whether a visitor day goes well. The others are parking, toilets and handwashing, hazards, law and insurance, people and emergencies, and your busiest hour.

I've put all seven into one guide: The Visitor-Ready Farm. It's 70 pages with a 35-point Visitor-Ready Scorecard, a Hazard Walk sheet, a Stock Count Log, a Theft Response Plan, Questions for Your Insurer, a 30-day plan, opening and closing checklists, and a Printable Toolkit of 7 signs and 8 worksheets. It's US$27, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get The Visitor-Ready Farm ($27)

Not ready to buy? Start with the free Farm Readiness Quiz. It takes about five minutes and shows which part of your farm needs work first.

Take the Free Farm Readiness Quiz

Get the Free 21-Point Agritourism Blueprint

P.S. The Meyers family lost nearly 200 pumpkins, but they didn't lose their community. Neighbours offered their pumpkins, customers rallied, and the family plans to add cameras before next season. You can do the cameras part this weekend, before anyone takes anything from you.

Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, insurance or financial advice. Check your own situation with a local lawyer and a licensed insurance professional.