Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part CXI): "No hay rustling reported"

That is the headline for a story in the Dec. 12, 2012 issue of the Newton County Times, dateline Paris, Arkansas, in neighboring Logan County.  The story is apparently from a press release (perhaps by U of A extension), and it reports:

Scarce supplies are prompting reports of hay hijacking in Missouri, but south of the border, bales seem to be staying place, extension agents with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture said Wednesday.   

The president of Missouri's Farm Bureau said thieves are targeting hay left in the field and selling it. 

While drought has made hay expensive in northern and western Arkansas and the Midwest, "I've not heard about people coming around and stealing hay," said Lance Kirkpatrick, Logan County extension staff chair for the Division of Agriculture.  When it comes to a dishonest return on investment, "It's easier to load up 10 cows in a trailer and get $10,000.  It's harder loading up 10 bales and getting maybe $1,000."   

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Kirkpatrick said that this fall, "we're worse off now than this summer.  Logan County has been dry for two years" and [he]calculated the county would need about 45 inches of rain through May 2013 to make up for the moisture deficit.

In other news, a 30-year-old Kingston man was arrested Dec. 3, following discovery of a clandestine meth lab at his remote Newton County residence.  The man is being held in the Madison County jail on charges of manufacturing meth, possessing drug paraphernalia, and intent to possess and manufacture meth.  In executing the warrant, the Newton County Sheriff was assisted by officers from the 14th Judicial Drug Task Force.  The news report suggests that the man was arrested on Dec. 2 on charges of a residential burglary and theft of property in Fayetteville, and that this arrest led to the search of the man's home.    

A front-page story reports that a man survived a fall from Whitaker Point (also known as Hawksbill Crag), a remote beauty spot in Newton County.  The story indicates that he is first known survivor of such a fall, though a subsequent issue of the paper reported his death from the fall.  The man, a 19-year-old college student, fell 100 feet, but survived in part because the fall was cushioned by tree branches.  The man was rescued by BUFFSAR, the Buffalo National River Search and Rescue team.