On Lothal, some of the Ag Ministry's policies included mechanizing the harvesting of jogan fruit by using and evicting local farmers from their lands to make way for Imperial mining operations. The Ag Ministry's policies alienated many of the locals including Zare Leonis' friend Beck Ollet, who planted detonators in an Imperial minefield. On another occasion, stormtroopers opened fired on a peaceful gathering of farmers protesting the loss of their farms and orchards. Despite the heavy-handedness of the stormtroopers towards the farmers, local media reported that the farmers had provoked the violence by attacking the mining equipment and surveyors.