Story Published: Sep 2, 2009 at 6:04 PM PST
But he quickly realized something was wrong when he saw Franklin County **deputies flying over his farm on Hendricks Road, about 25 miles north of Pasco.
Deputies spotted the hidden harvest on Tuesday. Within a day, they moved in and weeded out 30 pot plants, bringing their total to nearly 40,000 harvested so far this year.
The operation started with the spotter, Kevin Carle, who radioed down directions to the weed.
"Stop right there and walk 15 rows to the north," Carle said.
Then they were off, fast and furious through the corn. Row by row deputies pushed their way through until they found the marijuana.
"I count one, two" Franklin County Deputy Darrell Chambers said.
Deputies whacked it and stacked it, and then it's on to the next stalk.
"What's the count?" Action News asked. "14."
And they continued that way until they pulled 27 plants.
In Bowlin's field, growers were meticulous. Instead of a clump of cannabis like the one found two weeks ago near the Pasco-Kahlotus highway, growers planted single stalks, yards from each other.
"They're trying hide it, so it's not as obvious from the air," Franklin County Deputy Darrell Chambers said.
It's like searching for a needle in a haystack. But at $1,000 a pop, the plane scoured 1,400 acres making sure to pull every plant. The crop wasn't so obvious to the farmer.
"Kevin said he's never seen it in the corn," Chambers said.
"I've never had it my corn, never," Kevin Bowlin said, who owns the land. "and I look for tire marks but I didn't see any in the area."
For 20 years, Kevin Bowlin has farmed corn and has never had a problem until this year. Bowlin said thieves made off with his radios and 1,000 gallons of diesel. And then there was that extra crop deputies tipped him off to.
"They plant it in a seedling," Justin Gerry said, another Franklin County Deputy.
"Really?" Bowlin asked. "I thought they just did a seed in the ground."
It was an extra harvest the farmer wasn't counting on. But deputies were proud to take it off his hands and off the streets.
Deputies did not arrest anyone from the grow, but Bowlin said he may put up game cameras - motion-actived cameras that take pictures when animals run by - to make sure growers don't plant anything else in his field.
It's not just pot that's growing, so is the amount of money the department is pulling in from the state to get it out of the ground. A few years ago, Franklin County was getting just $3,000 to $4,000. This year, the number doubled.
**The word "Deputies" was incorrectly spelled in a graphic. It was corrected for future shows. Our apologies.
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