The Irish Farmers' Association is calling for new measures to be put in place to tackle the theft of scrap metal and machinery from farms.
IFA Environment & Rural Affairs Chairman Harold Kingston said that machines are being sold directly to some scrap dealers, which have no compliance schemes in place.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Kingston called for a "track and trace" system to be formally introduced.
He said: "What we're looking for is once somebody turns up at a scrap metal dealer, the first question is: 'Where did you get this scrap?'.
''Then after that everything is recorded, there would be CCTV footage, there would be lists of names, lists of vehicle registrations and so on, and this particular information would be available to gardaí and to the local county council."
Mr Kingston said that many in the scrap metal industry, including its representatives on the Metal Theft Forum, are committed to tackling the problem.
However, he said there are a few individuals who were taking advantage of the situation and making a considerable profit as a result.
