Trailers, tractors and quad bikes are the “big three” items being targeted and stolen on farms, IFA crime prevention officer Barry Carey has said.

He told an IFA webinar earlier this week that thefts of cattle and sheep are also big at the moment.

Other issues at present are lurchers, illegal hunting and trespassing. “This has caused huge issues around the country. Very recently, we had a farmer badly beaten on a Friday night, right beside his home farm, because he found people who were lamping and hunting late at night,” he said.

Carey said that it is important that farmers report any rural crime by calling 999 or 112.

“People have an apprehension about ringing 999 or 112. Everyone thinks that it’s supposed to be a murder-style situation to dial 999. [The number] 999 is just a call centre, where you report a particular or suspicious activity,” he said.

IFA farm family chair Alice Doyle urged farmers to complete a new farm crime survey being undertaken by Technological University Dublin. It will focus on understanding the experiences and attitudes from Irish farmers towards farm crime, the criminal justice response to it and crime prevention measures.