Farmers have been encouraged to take part in the government’s Commercial Victimisation Survey and record the nature, extent and costs of any crime.
Agriculture has been reintroduced as part of the survey, after successful efforts from the National Farmers' Union.
It is seen as opportunity to make the government and the Home Office aware of the extent rural crime affects farm businesses.
The results are used to monitor crime trends, identify what actions need to be taken to reduce crime and find out what support would be most helpful to farm businesses.
NFU land management adviser Rupert Weaver said the survey is a "perfect opportunity" for farmers to make Government aware of the serious impacts rural crime poses to farm businesses.
The NFU has previously warned that farmers should not be seen as a 'soft target' for criminals. A survey by NFU Mutual showed 56% of respondents have been a victim of rural crime in the past 12 months.
“As the NFU has already highlighted in its Rural Crime Report, rural crime affects a huge number of farmers, affecting their business and family life,” Mr Weaver said.
“There is increasing fear in rural areas due to increasing crime, resulting in significantly lower than average satisfaction levels with the police.
“There is a lack of official statistics relating to rural crime, partly due to underreporting, and a significant response from the farming community could provide the relevant authorities with the data they need to act on this problem. The NFU would encourage all farmers who receive the survey to participate.”
Businesses randomly selected to take part in the survey, ran by the Home Office with independent researchers Ipsos Mori, will receive a letter and a subsequent phone call between September and December 2017 to conduct an interview.
