Feral deer, dogs, pigs and goats focus of national plan

NSW farmers say they’ve never seen pig populations this extreme, from the Western Riverina to the Central West of the state.

New South Wales Farmers president Xavier Martin says millions of highly destructive feral pigs are running rampant across much of the state, after recent extreme wet weather.

He said while government control efforts had curtailed extreme population growth, including dispensing 74 tonnes of baits to landholders, the pests were still “out of control”.

“From the Western Riverina through the Central West and up into the Northern Tablelands, members tell us they’ve never seen pigs this bad before,” Mr Martin said.

“We need a drastic and sustained increase in resources for everyone involved to get on top of the problem once and for all.”

More than 63,000 feral pigs have been shot or baited in the past year in NSW, an 80 per cent increase year-on-year. The most rapid growth has been across public lands.

feral pig

In total, pest animals are costing Australian agriculture about $600 million a year, with ferals reducing crop yields, destroying native habitats, damaging fences, spreading weeds and disease, fouling fresh water and preying on newborn farm animals.

Pests also prey on native wildlife, with new figures showing feral foxes and cats alone are responsible for killing more than 2.6 billion animals, including threatened birds and lizards, in Australia every year – or over 7 million a night.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said state and federal governments had agreed to implement a nationally coordinatined framework following a federal inquiry in 2021 that found more needed to be done to combat pest species, including better data gathering and mapping.

National action plans have since been agreed for feral pigs and wild dogs while the National Biosecurity Committee will consider a national plan for feral deer later this year.

“Increased adoption of best practice pest animal management, as well as improved co-ordination and information sharing, maximises outcomes of pest control efforts and drives down negative impacts on agricultural productivity and the environment,” Mr Watt said.

“Farmers and communities will benefit through training opportunities and resource sharing, and increasing adoption of humane best practice control methods, such as baiting and trapping.”

The government last week also awarded $3.16 million funding to Australian Pork Limited, Australian Wool Innovation and the Centre for Invasive Species under the national pest animal management co-ordination program.

The program is helping reduce impacts of feral pigs, deer, cats, foxes and wild dogs.

However, invasive plants are also affecting agriculture, with heliotrope, rye-grass, parthenium and ragwort the headline acts.