Matthew Scott, chief claims manager at NFU Mutual, made the plea at the first national Rural Crime Seminar on Thursday (10 November).
Organised by the Association of Chief Police Officers, the conference took place at the Kettering Conference Centre, Northamptonshire.
Theft from UK farms alone rose to £49.7 million in 2010 – a year-on-year increase of 17%, according to NFU figures.
The company was committed to helping reduce the scale and impact of crime on the wider rural community, said Mr Scott.
With a 300-strong agency network providing a local service, NFU Mutual understood the emotional and financial impact of rural crime.
It recognised the challenges for individual police forces when a cache of stolen property from across the UK was identified within their jurisdiction.
"Our experience of working with local police force representatives is very positive," said Mr Scott.
"There are clearly some very dedicated officers who are passionate about fighting rural crime."
But he added: "This commitment needs to be supported by good continuity and succession planning."
Inter-force co-operation and collaboration with external parties like insurers and equipment manufacturers could be further strengthened, said Mr Scott.
NFU Mutual was putting its money where its mouth was and increasing its support for police units targeting rural crime from £92,000 to £190,000.
It had also agreed a stronger working relationship with the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS).
This was enabling the vehicle crime service to recruit a second police officer to tackle rural vehicle crime.
NFU Mutual first funded a dedicated detective constable to work full time in its claims team in 2010.
This role focuses on the disruption and detection of criminal activity to aid the recovery of stolen vehicles.
The insurer also shares claims data with the police to identify trends and has even used sting vehicles to catch criminals.
The approach has so far led to the recovery of over £1m of stolen tractors.
"This not only helps keep costs down, but ensures far less disruption and inconvenience for our policyholders and their businesses.
"The benefits of the approach substantially exceed the cost of our contribution to the policing budget of AVCIS."