Pennsylvania farmer offering $10K for info leading to arrest

Oct 27, 2016

Tom Logan has had multiple pieces of equipment set on fire

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A farmer who rents property near Mt. Pleasant Township, Pennsylvania is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of is the individual(s) responsible for setting fire to two pieces of machinery.

A John Deere tractor and combine was set ablaze and losses are estimated at $500,000. Fire officials say the fire occurred around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

Tom Logan, the farmer said the equipment had been sitting idle for a period of time, making unlikely that the fires started from mechanical issues.

“The equipment had been sitting there for only 48 hours. And the equipment was sitting about 30 feet apart,” Tom Logan told the Tribune-Review.

Only about a third of his 100 acres of corn and soybean crops were harvested prior to the fire.

Logan said the machinery can be replaced but capturing the person responsible is more important.

“We'll get another unit there to finish the harvest, but that's not the point. We put up the reward to get information,” Logan told the Tribune-Review.

What makes the situation even more difficult is that this is the second time Logan’s equipment has been found burnt in the last three years.

That investigation was concluded to be arson, but the suspect hasn’t been caught - which is an uneasy thought for Logan.

"I need to be able to go home and sleep at night knowing things are safe where they're parked," Logan told WTAE.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

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That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.