Kent Co. family pleads with locals to stop stealing potatoes from fields

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By Jesse Robichaud
Times & Transcript Staff

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SAINT-LOUIS-DE-KENT - It may resemble a U-pick potato field more than a crime scene, but that is exactly what it is.

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JESSE ROBICHAUD /TIMES & TRANSCR

David and Lidy Scheele want people to stop helping themselves to potatoes from their fields.

David and Lidy Scheele are losing thousands of dollars in 'hot' potatoes this harvest, but most of the thieves who are filling baskets and pick-up trucks full of stolen spuds don't even realize they are breaking the law.

Due to the extremely wet summer, potato farmers in the Maritimes have been forced to delay their harvest until much later than normal this year, but frost and rot aren't the Scheeles' only concerns as they work around the clock to fill a 40,000-bag order of seed potatoes for customers in South America.

Somehow amid the unusual circumstances, a rumour has spread that the Scheeles don't mind if locals help themselves to their potatoes, and that has led crowds of people to inadvertently steal the potatoes from a field near Saint-Louis-de-Kent.

Lidy says the false rumour has cost the farmers at least an acre of high-end seed potatoes worth about $3,000.

"We want to end that rumour," said Lidy, who has posted several "no trespassing" signs to no avail.

"It was never true, and it is never going to happen that you can pick them for free without permission."

Lidy admits that all potato farmers have to deal with a few thieves who make off with some potatoes in the middle of the night.

But now she says the false rumours have pushed the illegal activity into the mainstream as groups show up to help themselves to the taters in broad daylight.

Lidy said she pulled up to one field where there were four or five cars parked, and as she waited for David and the RCMP to arrive, she could see strangers going about their business as if they felt completely entitled to steal the potatoes from her field.

"The people didn't look up, so they didn't feel like they were doing anything wrong," said Lidy, in an interview with the Times & Transcript yesterday.

"But it's not allowed."

Rather than working like cat burglars, Lidy said the thieves were chatting among themselves and even stopping to smoke cigarettes.

"They made a family outing out of it. It was a free U-pick," she said.

Lidy said some people have even driven into the field to fill their trucks more easily and, in doing so, have destroyed more potatoes.

There are a variety of reactions when the inadvertent thieves are confronted. Some claim they thought the "no trespassing" signs were only in regard to the use of the field's lane, and others simply say they thought they were allowed to pick for free.

David and Lidy are both immigrants from Holland who have been operating the only potato farm in the area for 10 years. Their inability to speak French hasn't helped dispel the rumours that their potatoes are free.

David said it is only those who have been caught who have returned potatoes and apologized so far.

Lidy said she is sensitive to people who honestly thought they were allowed to pick for free. She said those who regret what they did can drop off payment at the farm or the RCMP office in Richibucto without fear of criminal charges.

"If they feel like they have done wrong without realizing it at the moment, if they want to fix it and they are honest, they can go to the RCMP and they can pay a certain amount, we don't even care what amount, and they are only going to get a warning and they won't be charged," said Lidy.

David is running out of patience.

"They send rumours around and, like chickens, one leads and the others follow behind. I said to the guy, 'just use your brain,'" he said of one encounter with someone who was stealing potatoes.

"I am exporting potatoes, I have contracts. When I don't fulfill the contracts, I am done. We're just making ends meet. The banks are behind us, we have a few bad years and you have this. I can't believe it."

Some of the inadvertent thieves have been less congenial and have argued with the Scheeles, asking why they don't harvest the potatoes themselves.

With the way the farm's 10 employees are working, Lidy said it is not out of the question to think all the potatoes can be salvaged by the farm's large machinery.

But she says the harvesting problems are not a cue for people to start stealing their livelihood.

"We are very late because of the rain. We had frosts, but that's nobody else's problem except ours," said Lidy.

"I say you didn't put $50,000 of fertilizer on it, you didn't put $50,000 of spray on it, you didn't put $30,000 of seed in it."

David said the RCMP have been quick to respond to the incidents, and have asked him if he is ready to press charges. Because some of the inadvertent thieves are neighbours, he has held back from pressing charges, but he said he will start if nothing changes.

David and Lidy, who live in Galloway, say the entire ordeal has been upsetting, especially when they see neighbours taking from the farm.

"It is so embarrassing to have adults stealing your potatoes and you have to tell them they aren't allowed. It could be embarrassing for them, but it is for me too," said Lidy.

"If I was talking to a child it might be different."

Lidy is sensitive to the fact that people need to eat, but she said the farm regularly donates excess potatoes to the food bank.

"If you really need potatoes, you can go to the food bank, but you can't take potatoes from our fields," she said.

David, Lidy and the farm's workers wait until the ground thaws each morning and work until at least 10 p.m. at night as they try to fill the current orders. More orders from Cuba and parts of South America could soon be added to the current order, which is due by the beginning of December.

"If we could have started (harvesting) earlier, these might already be in the bag for Cuba," said Lidy, looking over areas where most of the potatoes have been removed, and many still lay frozen above the soil.

She said she doesn't know who started the rumours, but she said it is discouraging to need to deal with the theft while also fighting to stay afloat.

"We have had 10 really hard years, that's for sure, but when you feel the people are against you..." she said, not finishing her sentence.