In August 1980, the grain company in Ristine, Missouri became bankrupt. One of the grain elevators had stored Cryts' soybean crop from the prior year. Cryts traveled to Washington D.C. twice to petition the Carter administration for assistance, but there was little the government could do. In January 1981, Cryts contacted news reporters to warn the Ristine-based company that he would "take matters into his own hands" if it did not release the beans to him within the next month. When the company refused Cryts' ultimatum, Cryts embarked on a plan of civil disobedience: he would take the beans, pay off a loan that he borrowed against the beans, and accept whatever consequences came his way.[2]
On February 16, 1981, over 3,000 farmers traveled to a group of grain elevators in New Madrid, Missouri, to support Cryts.[1][2] At the elevator, a US marshal served Cryts with a court order directing that Cryts' beans be sold to pay the bankrupt company's debts.[2] Nevertheless, Cryts, with 500 of the 3,000 farmers, spent the next two days removing the 31,000 soybean bushels from the elevator.[1][2]
Most locals sympathetized with Cryts' plight. FBI agents and federal marshals did not interfere with Cryts as he removed the beans, and the media covered the story in a positive light. Local farmers sold the beans on Cryts' behalf, and a grand jury refused to indict Cryts for theft.[1][2][3]
Because Cryts refused to identify his accomplices, the court fined him $300,000 for contempt plus an extra $1,500 per diem until payment. After arrest, he was sent to the Pope County Detention Center in Russellville, Arkansas,[2][3] where outraged farmers then picketed with their tractors.[3] In response, Congress changed the relevant law.[3][4] Cryts was acquitted of his contempt charges by a federal jury in June 1983.[5]