"They're rural areas so they're easy targets," he said.
It was hard to know when the thefts had actually occurred.
"Quite often they'll have chainsaws locked up somewhere. The farmer won't know it's gone until he goes to use it."
McKernon said there had been reports of someone driving up and down driveways on Top Grass Road asking for petrol.
He said the property owner had rung police and he was able to alert a local farmer.
The farmer was told to check their vehicles on the property and make sure no one had been interfering with them.
Police had suspected it was a man who was already of interest in relation to a stolen vehicle but they weren't able to catch up with the man.
McKernon said it was good that people had rung police to alert them it was happening.
"It gave us a chance to be proactive," he said.
In terms of the fuel theft, farmers might need to consider how secure their tanks were.
McKernon said it was difficult to tell if the burglaries were happening during the day or at night.
"We would like anything suspicious to be reported to us. Just give us that fighting chance."
He advised any property owners to record serial numbers or even take photographs.
If serial numbers were recorded, they would be easier to trace back to their owner in the event that they were stolen.
Other measures farmers could think about was security lighting.
"Anything that alerts you to people coming onto your property is ideal."
