If anything causes agriculture to lose the use of anhydrous ammonia, it will be methamphetamine production. Methamphetamine (meth) is an illegal drug classified as a powerful synthetic stimulant which affects the central nervous system. It is highly addictive and dangerous to human health. Unfortunately, anhydrous ammonia is crucial to the efficient production of methamphetamine. That makes it a problem all of us in agriculture must deal with.

All too frequently, a manager or employee at an MFA Agri Services Center or affiliated local must respond to the attempted theft of anhydrous. Our central locations along major roadways and railroad tracks make us a visible target for these thieves. They come from as far away as Wyoming to steal anhydrous in central Missouri. We work territory-wide with law enforcement to determine the best levels of prevention. On a random basis, we have surveillance monitoring at different locations. We share all information and video with law enforcement. In fact, at almost all times, we at MFA are working with several different multi-governmental agencies on anhydrous theft prevention and apprehension efforts.

Our store managers and employees monitor our tanks and facilities on a daily basis. We constantly look for ways to stop anhydrous theft. We provide lighting and surveillance systems when necessary. In some locations, we've even installed infrared detection systems wired directly to local law enforcement. But too many times, even all that is not enough. The thieves are too bold, stupid or cunning. Thieves saw through locks, fashion dangerous hoses, cut fences, shatter lights, leave valves open, remove plugs, even drill through lines. One individual was chased away as he attempted to drill through a full anhydrous tank. Our store employees have found propane bottles, coolers, bicycle inner tubes, 2-liter soda bottles and fire extinguishers abandoned beside anhydrous tanks.

Anhydrous costs farmers in the neighborhood of $400 a ton. These methamphetamine manufacturers are paying $500 to $1,000 a gallon. There are reports of prices of $300 a quart. Very small amounts are needed in production. In fact, enough residual ammonia is left in a typical transfer hose for a criminal to use in meth production.

Many of you already know this and have experienced the problem first hand. Thieves target anhydrous nurse tanks in farm fields, too. We have a special department at MFA called Safety, Environment and Regulatory or SER. Their sole purpose is to keep us in compliance with laws and regulations in each of those three areas. MFA has risk management plans in place for our anhydrous facilities. But our SER employees recommend individual farmers specifically take note of their anhydrous use. They recommend you keep only one day's worth of anhydrous on hand and use it that day. When you drop off an empty tank, wait until the next morning to pick up a full one. It's more trouble. It's more trips to town. But it's smart from a risk standpoint. There's more.

• If you must keep a full or partially full tank on your farm, don't keep it near houses.
• Keep anhydrous tanks downwind a long way from your house. Thieves have a habit of leaving valves open.
• Keep anhydrous tanks away from the road, preferably out of sight.
• Don't store tanks in the same place every time.
• Never lock a tank in your machine shed or any other confined building. If someone gets in and fools with the tank, you may lose the whole building the first time a compressor kicks on. Ammonia is flammable when you confine it.
• Make sure everyone in your family and all of your employees understand the situation and the risks.
• Make sure everyone is aware of the need to call the law. The thieves aren't people you should deal with. If you, your family or employees see someone tampering with a tank, don't approach him. Call the sheriff. These criminals are irrational, cagey and violent.
• If you see a nurse tank from a distant supplier being pulled down the road, call the sheriff. Anhydrous tanks have been stolen, driven counties away and buried in isolated fields with only the hoses above ground.
• Call the sheriff when you notice suspicious activity. Meth labs are frequently set up in remote locations with little to no daytime traffic but late-night activity, with windows completely covered to block light, with materials like lantern fuel cans, clear glass jugs, chemistry paraphernalia, laboratory glassware.

We can beat these thieves if we work together. I saw a newspaper article recently that described how thieves stole millions of dollars worth of diamonds from safes in the maximum-security cellars of Antwerp World Diamond Center in Belgium. The center is equipped with world-class, high-tech electronic security. Half of the world's diamonds pass through the center. It made me wonder how we could ever prevent anhydrous theft when thieves can steal diamonds in the presence of that type of security. But we're different. We have tight communities. We live by and support our towns. And if we all work together, understand the problem and watch out for each other, we can stop these individuals before they hurt innocent people, before they destroy our communities, before they cripple agriculture's productivity.