A group of agricultural producers in Manitoba has banded together to offer a hefty financial reward following a targeted string of copper wire thefts that left local operations facing tens of thousands of dollars in damages just before the spring seeding season. Six local farms, including Verwey Farms near Portage la Prairie, jointly issued a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The decision to involve the RCMP came after multiple producers discovered their irrigation pivots had been systematically stripped of copper wiring. Rachael Proden, a farmer with Verwey Farms, said her family discovered the vandalism in early May. In addition to the ruined pivot, thieves stripped the electrical wiring off a corn planter stored in one of their storage yards north of Portage la Prairie. The combined damage to the two pieces of machinery totals more than $70,000. “It was kind of a shock to the system and frustrating,” Proden said, adding that the thefts have caused months of de