Neighbor thinks pot growers are in the area

[npalen]

Usually the landowner will receive 1/3 of the produce when cropshareing. just kidding

 

[sea2summit]

It looks like you only have 5 acres. I would make a daily routine of walking your perimeter and eventually you will find somebody or evidence of somebody frequenting the area. Usually if a trespasser sees activity they will go elsewhere.

If five acres is true you should easily know when someone is driving around on your property with an ATV. I'd make sure the land is posted as a start, then maybe some cameras. If herbs are found in your woods you gotta decide how to handle them...might be the only time I'll recommend letting the goats at'em

 

[deezler]

First off, I have no open areas to get much light. Not sure if that is good for this crop or not. Maybe I don't need to worry about it if they need 1/2 day of sunlight.

Yes, they need full sunlight to do anything productive.

If as other say you only have 5 acres, I don't know why you are even asking us about this. If you find some planted on your land, destroy it if you want to.

if you haven't found any yet.... don't do anything.

 

[MossRoad]

I was raised in Southern Indiana and I recall something about a bunch of Hemp having to be burned.

Later, I discovered that the area was a major hemp-growing center. They made (I guess) rope out of it.

I have been told that the rope-making hemp isn't worth a flip for personal consumption.

Most areas don't pay any attention to it anymore.

They made rope and canvas for sails, tents, clothing out of the hemp.

The stuff we find in this area grows predominantly in the drainage ditches along farm fields. It's got unlimited water, sunlight, and plenty O fertilizer from the corn fields.

As for personal consumption (which I stopped back in 1985)... it seemed to do the job just fine. However, from what I hear, it's nothing like today's cultivated crops. It's legal in Michigan, just 6 miles from my house. Seems to be a booming business. We used to hear about pot busts quit often, but in the past few years, with it being legal in 3 of the 4 states that we border, we haven't heard much about that anymore.

 

[Egon]

As others have said:

Report Suspected activities to the proper authorities and then just ignore it. Don’t get personally involved.

Commercial Hemp is a very useful product and it’s use should be expanded!

 

[EddieWalker]

When I bought my land, there wasn't a fence or gate or anything to stop people from trespassing. The local Volunteer Fire Chief told me that he and his friends used to ride ATV's on it all the time. I got it for a good price because people where dumping garbage on the land and the owners didn't want to deal with it anymore. There was a road that went through the land, straight to the creek. Across the creek, there was a trail that somebody had walked enough to make it very noticable. The creek was the property line, so I never crossed it to see where they where going. After buying the land, I put up a fence with a locked gate. One night somebody shot off the lock and drove to the creek. The tracks where obvious. Then they drove back out. The only went to the creek and back. The Sherriff said that somebody was probably growing weed and decided to harvest it when they saw that I had closed off the entrance to the land. They never went down there to look for themselves, they really didn't seem interested.

A couple years later, about 2 miles upstream from that same creek, but on another person's land, a helicopter found a large crop of weed worth millions of dollars. It was in the news for awhile, but nobody was arrested. They just cut it down and burned it. The weed was growing in the trees. It was not a clear area, just a lot of plants mixed in with the existing woods. Since then, I haven't heard of anything in my area.

Since buying my land, other people have also bought up the land around me, and worked on clearing it and building homes. Before that, it was pretty wild jungle. I'm guessing that the growers moved to more remote areas.

 

[oosik]

Right across the county road from my driveway. Three young guys set up a grow operation. I talked to them a couple time and visited once. It was pretty obvious - they were prepared to consume everything they could ever grow.

Then something went wrong and the entire operation burned to the ground. They never came back. Life goes on.........

 

[IrishLoader]

On another note it could be Ginsingers too. They may not plant but they tear up the ground and run with a crop. Either dried or wet there is money to be made and like a tweeker pulling copper some don't give a tinkers damn how they get it.

 

[MossRoad]

On another note it could be Ginsingers too. They may not plant but they tear up the ground and run with a crop. Either dried or wet there is money to be made and like a tweeker pulling copper some don't give a tinkers damn how they get it.

Good point. Again, another reason to see if there actually is a problem on his land.

 

[ponytug]

Definitely let local LEO know about it if you found something.

It is unfortunately a widespread problem;

MSN

Illegal marijuana grows are stealing from California’s scarce water - High Country News

As drought grips the Golden State, water thefts have increased to record levels. The most common offender: illegal pot farms.

www.hcn.org

A California county cuts off water to Asian pot growers. Is it racism or crime crackdown? (paywall)
It isn't usually grown in full sun around here.

We have had it on property that I have been associated with (not on mine). Funnily enough, I got a glimpse behind the LEO curtain for phoning and reporting some guys carrying what looked like tactical weapons. Turned out it was the local LEO marijuana SWAT team that had hiked down the wrong ridge line and ended up on the road a ways away from their vehicles, which explained why they were being so furtive about their weapons. They were preparing for a major raid, and I got to know the leader. It ended up being an enormous grow and raid. Local law enforcement was very clear about not doing anything, describing local growers as generally cartel operations, "armed and dangerous". Yours may or may not be, but you don't want to find out. We get out a lot in the backcountry and it is pretty obvious to me what is a game trail and what isn't.

If you have five acres, I would keep dogs and and be seen coming and going, but not around their operations. You are not going to be able to be safe. These aren't likely to be folks that you can hassle your way out of, and at the same time, you don't want them there. Local growers have burned homes, killed family members, and forced some into working for them.

Fencing in goats is a great idea, just be prepared to lose lots of them. Better them than you. Feed deer by the house, encourage feral pigs, whatever ups the pressure on them. It is guerrilla warfare, and like it or not, you are now a participant. You need to keep a low profile.

Stay safe!

Peter

Peter