It comes as Crime Stoppers Victoria and Victoria Police have launched the Shut Out Farm Crime campaign as theft of livestock, tools and machinery from farms continues to be a widespread issue across the state.

New data from the Crime Statistics Agency highlights the continuing problem of livestock theft.

It shows the offending rose by 12.6 per cent in the year ending December 2021, causing losses of more than $2.7 million.

Most reports of stolen livestock were from western Victoria.

Sheep were most commonly stolen, with a record $1,886,567 worth of sheep reported as stolen to police last year.

Cattle worth more than $755,000 were also reported as stolen, in addition to steer worth $44,000, horses worth $41,500 and goats worth $34,000.

Warrak sheep farmer Daniel Buckingham has previously lost some of his animals to thieves. Once he lost 37 ultra fine merinos - his top line.

Meanwhile, as fuel prices are increasing, so too has diesel and petrol theft. The data shows more than $35,000 worth of fuel was stolen last year.

Mr Buckingham is particularly concerned about the rise in fuel theft given the surging costs at the moment.

He said it was a prominent issue given farmers utilised big tanks so a few missing litres of fuel could potentially go undetected.

"There's been multiple times I think... surely I didn't go through this much fuel.

"When someone's taken 30 or 60 litres out of a 300 or 400-litre tank you're probably not going to take too much notice of it. I think it's going to be an increasing problem," Mr Buckingham said.

Beaufort farmer James Kirkpatrick said farmers could be viewed as easy targets.

"...There's so much they can take. It's not just trying to break into a bank account, there's probably $60,000 worth of tools you could easily take out of a workshop."

The data shows more than $7,260,000 worth of property was stolen from farms across Victoria last year alone. Of what was taken included $623,000 worth of farm equipment, in addition to more than $160,000 in machinery.

"An ATV bike, welders and two wheel bikes. There's a lot of things they can easily take on a trailer or put on the back of a ute, but it upsets our business when we want to go and use it but it's not there.

"Then you need to go through the process of claiming it on insurance and dealing with the police, trying to get a result."

Deterring and addressing farm crime has become a focus of Victoria Police.

The Farm Crime Coordination Unit, based in Geelong, was set up several years ago to monitor farm crime trends to solve more cases.

It is headed by former Ballarat police officer, Inspector Karl Curran, who said the rise in crime recorded in the farming and rural sectors was a concern, but also reflected an increase in reporting incidents to police.

Inspector Curran said campaigns encouraging reporting had highlighted historical underreporting in the agriculture sector and so police were encouraged there was more confidence in reporting farm crime to police.

He added that police would "fully investigate" all crimes reported and the more information and reports received assisted in identifying trends and allowing resources to be placed in areas of concern.

"As I have often said, we cannot investigate what we do not know."

His sentiments were echoed by Dr Alistair Harkness, the co-director of the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.

He said that not reporting farm crime could mean resources weren't allocated to address the issue in problem areas.

"If the reality of farm crime is not known, then appropriate attention cannot be paid at either local or state-wide levels," Dr Harkness said.

Crime Stoppers Victoria's chief executive, Stella Smith, encouraged victims of farm crime to make a report.

"When you come to Crime Stoppers, you control how much information you give us. You decide whether you want to say who you are, you decide how much information you share," Ms Smith said.

"Not speaking up allows criminals to get away with offending and it affects farmers economically. If they don't have money to spend in the local community, that impacts local traders as well."

She said farmers dealt with floods and drought and "shouldn't have to put up with thieves as well".

Mr Kirkpatrick encouraged fellow property owners to take steps to make their farms more secure.

"Improve your security measures, it makes it hard for the criminals to come and break into your property and take things," Mr Kirkpatrick said.

Inspector Curran said some simple ways to prevent farm crime included locking gates and sheds, securing tools and equipment and, where possible, locking fuel bowsers and storage tanks.

Related coverage: Farm crime on the radar of Victoria Police

Related coverage: How can we tackle rural crime in Victoria?

Related coverage: Why police are continuing to tackle farm crime

It is also recommended to install CCTV and sensor lights around sheds and yards, and to regularly conduct head counts of stock to identify any thefts as soon as possible.

Another way to deter thieves is to pin up warning signs that will be readily available at agricultural events throughout the year.

"The farm gate signs we have provided have proved incredibly popular and we're pleased to be able to offer even more free to farmers as well as new warning stickers through our partnership with Crime Stoppers,'' Inspector Curran said.

"They're simple measures but can go a long way to discouraging farm crime and its devastating effects on local communities."

Anyone with information about farm crime is urged to make an anonymous report to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au.

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