Livestock theft from has been a problem plaguing farmers across the region, and St Arnaud police have devised a new system to help combat it.

Farmers had nearly $6 million worth of stock and equipment stolen across the state last year, a 10-year high.

In the face of the issue, St Arnaud Police are in the process of establishing a database to track livestock thefts in their region to make investigating crimes of that nature more simple.

"I certainly think the initiative has potential. We want to establish a firm liaison with the farmers near St Arnaud, instilling confidence in them to be able to report loss or theft of stock to us," St Arnaud Sergeant Bill Alford said.

"We have the view to establish patterns of behaviour of thefts, with the attempt to locate persons responsible for them.

"We also hope to educate farmers and instill belief in them that if they adopt certain procedures like good tagging measures, this can help with the problem."

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St Arnaud First Constable Nick Derecki is driving the database rollout. He said it will make investigating stock theft much easier.

"With the database we can see what farms have what type of stock, how much and if they have had any losses or thefts in the past," he said.

"We will also be storing contact details, so rather than making long road trips out to farms a while away all of the time, we can make several calls first and save some valuable time. We will be trying to get in touch with as many people as possible."

First Constable Derecki said he hopes the introduction of the database will promote farmers coming to police sooner if they believe they have had stock stolen.

"Farmers often don't report stock stolen, sometimes doing it several months later," he said.

"We would encourage anyone who might have missing stock to contact us."

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Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the initiative shows promise.

"We would be supportive of anything that helps police do their jobs as long as sensitive information is treated in the correct manner," he said.

"The reality is with higher stock prices and the fact that farms have large geographical footprints it is hard to keep an eye on things at all times. Having more sophisticated methods of crime management would definitely be welcomed.

"If they can see any emerging patterns or track pieces of equipment across the state or borders that would be a huge benefit."

Mr Jochinke said having police who understand the concerns of farmers is also crucial.

"It is important to have a person at the other end of the line who understands technical terms of agriculture and the value of livestock or equipment. That fills farmers with a lot more confidence," he said.

"There things farmers can do themselves but there is a limit to what they can achieve on their own.

"Hopefully the system has some success and something like this can run across the state."

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