Feral Pig and Pest Program 2024–25

Local Land Services is delivering this $13.1 million program to support landholders to control feral pigs and pest animals to reduce the impacts on their property's agricultural and environmental assets.

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The Feral Pig and Pest Program will be delivered by Local Land Services (LLS) from August 2024 to June 2025 on behalf of the NSW Government. 

Every landholder has a General Biosecurity Duty to reduce risks caused by pest animals. This program supports landholders to take action to prevent, eliminate or minimise pest animals and their impact. 

The program builds on the success of the 2023-24 Feral Pig Program and other control activities LLS has coordinated with landholders across the state in previous years.

Objectives

Support landholders in controlling feral pigs and pest animals.

Reduce the impacts of feral pigs and pest animals on agricultural and environmental assets.

Build landholder capability in feral pig and other pest animal management.

Maintain workforce capability to support pest animal control and coordination.

Two people standing behind a net trap with trees in the background

Project delivery

Key activities of the Feral Pig and Pest Program include:

  • coordinated broadscale control programs targeting feral pigs and other priority pest animal species in key locations across the state to further support existing landholder driven programs
  • providing land managers with the knowledge, skills and support to implement control programs on their land
  • promoting and employing best practice management techniques for reducing feral pig and other priority pest animal populations
  • educating landholders in their General Biosecurity Duty responsibilities related to managing pest animals under the Biosecurity Act 2015
  • engaging landholders to participate in control programs
  • maintaining a trained biosecurity workforce with the skills, experience and capacity to assist landholders to manage invasive species
  • continuing the role of the NSW State Feral Pig Coordinator to lead and coordinate the program
  • establishing localised monitoring programs of feral pigs and other priority pest animal species
  • providing subsidised 1080 poison to eligible landholders for feral pig baiting.

Support for landholders

Vertebrate Pesticide Induction Training

Free VPIT courses available online and face-to-face at locations across NSW.

Capacity building events

Get the skills and advice you need to actively manage pest animals.

Feral pig control

Watch our video series to learn about trapping, baiting and pest animal behaviour.

Subsidised bait

Eligible landholders can access fully subsided 1080 poison up to 30 June 2025.

Farmers gathered around a net trap for pest animal control with buildings and trees in the background
Landholders discussing the use of different trap designs at a workshop in Tabulam. 

Get involved

Landholder participation in control programs is essential. The more landholders taking part in control programs, the more successful we will be in reducing pest animal numbers and impacts, protecting farming operations and the environment.

Local Land Services biosecurity officers can:

  • provide tailored advice on pest animal management
  • connect you to the latest tools, training and events
  • help you understand your General Biosecurity Duty obligations.

Call 1300 795 299

Work underway

Local Land Services is currently offering co-ordinated control programs, training opportunities, free bait and equipment hire to help manage feral pigs and pest animals. Land managers can complete the Feral Pig and Pests Impact Survey to help shape ongoing support. 

Progress updates

January 2025

Engagement

  • 14,716 consultations with land managers for pest animal management
  • 36 awareness events across the state with 649 participants
  • 140 landholders surveyed as part of impacts monitoring 
  • 725 participants at free VPIT courses held online
  • 53 participants at 5 face-to-face VPIT courses.

Ground control

  • 3,805 feral pigs controlled through coordinated ground control programs
  • 1,381 properties participating
  • 2,599,488 hectares protected through ground control
  • 61,528 kg free bait issued to landholders on 647 instances
  • 78,960 kg free feed grain supplied to 407 landholders for trapping programs.

Aerial control

  • 14 aerial control programs
  • 1,295 properties participating
  • 1,434,659 hectares protected through aerial control
  • 29,253 feral pigs controlled
  • 5,918 deer controlled.
October 2024

Tailored support

Trained local biosecurity officers across NSW are providing free one-on-one consultations with landholders for pest animal management. From advice on effective control methods, to coordinating across neighbouring boundaries, biosecurity officers are working with land managers to deliver aerial and ground control programs.

Practical workshops 

Free awareness and capacity building events are rolling out across the state to provide landholders with the latest skills and knowledge in pest animal control. Training sessions may include identifying signs, control techniques and trapping demonstrations. 

Vertebrate Pesticide Induction Training

Landholders have the opportunity to complete free VPIT training to gain the accreditation needed to use pesticides to control vertebrate pest animals. Face-to-face courses are offered in different locations or training can be done online at any time.

Equipment 

LLS is providing equipment on loan to eligible landholders to help them carry out control programs on their property. Depending on availability, resources range from cameras for monitoring to different styles of traps for feral animals.

Feral Pig and Pest Impacts Survey

Are you a rural land manager? 
Complete this survey on the impact feral pigs and pests have had on your property.
Your responses will help us better manage the problem.

Landholder success stories

Hear from landholders who have received support from Local Land Services and are having success with their feral pig and pest control methods.

Barraba farmer Liam Johnston says the risk of feral pigs spreading disease to his cattle is his biggest concern, but joining his neighbours in a control group for coordinated baiting has dramatically reduced feral pig numbers.

3:27

Neighbours join forces to reduce disease risk and feral pigs

When the feral pig problem was getting too hard for landowners to manage with the existing controls they had, joining with neighbours in a group control program led to...

Read transcript
Video transcript

Neighbours join forces to reduce disease risk and feral pigs

Introduction

Our biggest concern with the pigs is probably disease carrying.

We do have a lot of damage.

Twelve months ago, the pigs in this area were in plague proportion.

You’d go out on a single day mustering you’d see 5 to 6 mobs of pigs while mustering.

After 12 months of this LLS controlled baiting program, we're down to barely seeing pigs at all.

Hi I'm Liam.

My occupation is I work on a family farm.

It’s my in-laws’ farm, near Barraba, New South Wales.

Seven thousand acres, mainly cattle, a little killing mob of sheep.

Background

About 12 or 18 months ago, I was approached at a field day by a couple of landowners and farm managers here in this area.

They knew that they had a feral pig problem.

They knew that, the feral pig problem was getting worse and it was just getting too hard to manage with the existing controls that they had.

And they wanted to know how best LLS could help them.

I'm Karen, I'm a senior biosecurity officer with Local Land Services.

One of the biggest concerns for this pest animal group is the disease risk of feral pigs.

Leptospirosis, brucellosis and now even Japanese encephalitis has been found in pigs across New South Wales.

And so vaccinating your livestock for leptospirosis is an added cost is an added cost that these guys are having to wear now.

To mitigate the risk of disease transfer is high on the list of priorities here for this group.

Disease risk

This paddock here, we put cows in these hills and we've actually seen cows grooming pigs in the paddock.

They’ll lick them.

We have feeders on the farm now too, we pellet feed.

The pigs love the feeders obviously so they are in the feeders with them feeding.

Disease can spread that quickly, let alone water sharing and licking each other in the paddock.

So the threat is huge.

Neighbours

So we've got a bit over 20 So we've got a bit over 20 neighbours in an area here that are doing excellent control.

They are coordinating their control a couple of times a year all together and there's still a lot of those landowners doing ad hoc controls all throughout the year as well.

Control

If we didn't have our neighbours in a group with us, with the LLS helping, those pig numbers would be still be what they were 12 months ago.

You just can’t get on top of them without everyone being in a control group and helping.

Baiting

So we are baiting better, knowing how the pig performs out with all their studies they've done.

A big help as been these traps, you see behind us.

They've given us grain, They've given us grain, which is quite expensive when you're doing these baiting programs.

We had one site where we were feeding out nearly 500 kilos of barley a night.

So if also we had to pay for it ourselves, it's another burden on the farm.

Part of our group they’ve got us on feral pig scan app, which is a very handy tool.

We know where our neighbours are baiting their pigs, so we make sure we're not in the same vicinity.

So therefore, if they’re on the other side of the hill, we can go on the other side of our property.

And we're getting much better numbers and results.

Conclusion

Having a pest control group is a great way to build your confidence and your skills to be able to manage the feral pigs, not only for your own farm economics and your farm business, but also in the event of an outbreak of an exotic or notifiable disease.

I think New South Wales or Australia wide, if they could get more of these programs going across the country, we could definitely get a dint in the feral pig population.

Some of the positive outcomes after working with this group for 12 or 18 months is that they're just not seeing the pig numbers that they had 12 months ago.

I drove out here on our very first meeting and nearly hit a mob of pigs on the road and we just don't see that here anymore.

Get in touch with your local biosecurity officer who can help assist getting a coordinated group together so that your pig control efforts are much more efficient.

Inverell grazier Kym Thomas says feral pigs were "out of control" before trapping, fencing and control efforts reduced their numbers and limited the damaging impacts on her sheep, land and income.

3:13

Control feral pigs to increase livestock production

Advice from Local Land Services biosecurity officers, and assistance with trapping, fencing and control efforts, helped Inverell grazier Kym Thomas to reduce the damage...

Read transcript
Video transcript

Control feral pigs to increase livestock production

We came here in 2018, the pigs here were absolutely out of control.

For us it was a huge impact A for the sheep, but B for the cropping.

And when money's tight you need to keep every cent in your pocket.

Hi, I'm Kym and I'm at Kahmoo in our Northern Tablelands property.

Been pretty much a grazier all my life with sheep and cattle.

And so this is the pasture we're in at the moment.

The support from LLS was amazing.

One, we didn't have really a pig trap, so we got a pig trap.

Two, we didn't have an idea of the countryside and what, what to do, how to do it in here.

You've got to learn about your land.

This is what happens and this is how we can do it.

So that information was fantastic.

Because you're busy, you know, you're flat out and if you've got someone else that can support you with your needs and help and ideas, yeah, it's, it's imperative.

So back early days we worked out this was probably early 2000s.

We'd lost 25% of our income.

Hi, I'm Elli Keyte, senior biosecurity officer with Local Land Services.

There's been consecutive few good seasons in the Inverell area which has made the feral pig numbers really explode.

So yeah, I've worked closely with Kym who was seeing huge impacts from feral pigs in her pastures, predating on lambs and also causing damage to infrastructure such as fences and coming into her sheep feeders.

When she was starting to see those impacts, Local Land Services came out on site, worked with Kym, assessed the damage and made up a plan of how we could best attack the situation.

You know, now Kym's not seeing the impacts with the pigs coming into her feeders, less tracks and her next step moving forward is to, with the exclusion fencing and just continue with that ground control, whether it be baiting, trapping or shooting.

I think it impacts everyone.

So from that point of view, from a neighbour point of view or anyone’s point of view, pigs are an impact.

But the better you fence, the better control and the less pigs you've got, and therefore your dollar’s in the back pocket and you can do something with it.

So has Paul been or going to be trapping back over here? Yes.

I expect now that we've got a lot out of this area that I think the majority will come over from that way.

And that area and that area over there will be the two areas that are going to be where we're going to have to concentrate in the future.

Feral pigs reproduce so rapidly, so no one control technique is going to get the population down low enough to eradicate them.

We really encourage you to reach out to your local biosecurity officer.

We can assist you with aerial control programs, ground control programs such as baiting and trapping.

And we can also loan out pig traps and provide subsidised bait products.

Without all of the support and all of everybody's input, we wouldn't have learnt what we've learnt and we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now with less pigs and the degradation, so much less.

Very lucky to have the support of all the community around us and the LLS.

Central Tablelands beef farmer Nic Job was better able to control feral pig numbers with new techniques and access to free grain, trap and camera hire.

4:16

Feral pig management case study: Royalla Shorthorn Beef, Yeoval

When feral pigs first moved into the Yeoval area in the late 2000s, they were at first a novelty in the countryside. However when their numbers started to build, grazier...

Read transcript
Video transcript

Feral pig management case study: Royalla Shorthorn Beef, Yeoval

Nic Job from Royalla Shorthorns.

We run a shorthorn operation in conjunction with my parents.

I moved out here from another property in 2000.

For the first few years, we didn't see any pigs at all.

And it probably 12, 12, 15 years ago, we started to see a couple of pigs, and then the numbers have just gradually increased, and now we're seeing big numbers.

Initially it was a bit of a novelty because we’d not seen them.

But that that lasted for bit two days.

Then I went straight in trying to control them.

We're starting to see a lot of poachers trying to come in on the property without permission.

And that's becoming a nearly as bigger issue as the pigs, in terms of we'll find gates not only opened, but gates pulled away and taken back.

You know, some of the bulls on this place worth over $60,000.

And if you get if you get two bulls that the gates are open, they get in joining each other.

You can have broken legs and worse.

My name's James Moses.

I'm a Biosecurity Officer at Molong, which is part of the Local Land Services of the Central Tablelands.

So we first working with Nic with supplying traps, cameras and grain, just to get him started.

He was having trouble with pigs in one of these back paddocks.

And just worked in with him with a few different techniques that he hadn't tried before with his previous trapping.

just to help him really get that good result when he did set the traps.

You know, we've used LLS traps and LLS, we've tried baiting stations from the LLS.

We were in contact with James fairly often and to try and see different methods and, and keep on top of the problem.

The guys I work with a great.

So yeah, we've had really good communication with them.

Prior to that, it was just, you know, on our own, trying to do what we could, you know, casually take a dog out and try and catch some or shoot them and things like that, but that, that wasn't getting on top of the problem.

we've got to kill 70-73% every year just for the numbers to be stable.

One of the most important tools the LLS has given us is the Feral Scan app.

So we're able to report every time we see a pig.

So they touch base, you know, if I put any numbers in, if I've seen a big group.

I'll get a call okay, you know, to see more.

Are they the same group running around? Yeah.

If they're different pigs? So yeah, we we get constant feedback.

I think what should be celebrated out here is a is that they've tried a few different techniques.

It's not just been the one solution.

fixes the problem.

We've trapped, we've looked at bait stations, opportunistic ground shooting.

And it's all these combinations that have really helped get a handle on the pig numbers out here.

And also the data from from Nic putting in FeralScan has helped us plan our aerial shoots and where we target areas.

Through the Feral Fighters program, we have been supplying free grain, free trap hire, free camera hire and free bait stations.

And that's really helped farmers and landholders just take that next step of doing control.

Because, you know, it's it's not easy and it's time consuming and they've got a lot of jobs on.

So if we can give them that little bit of a helping hand, that just gets the ball rolling.

And once it’s started, it's much easier to maintain that and get a hold of pig numbers.

I love getting out and talking to landholders and helping them.

We've got things now.

We've got tools.

We've got knowledge that we can pass on that can help landholders, help them, which helps their business, which helps everyone. 

Jack Pearlman, Northern Tablelands grain grower and cattle producer knows the losses feral pigs can cause to crops during harvest. 

Working with his neighbours, he has controlled more than 1,300 feral pigs and built his capacity to continue into the future.

I could be sitting at the header one day and see 20-30 hectares decimated by pigs. 

It’s labour-intensive work but to learn different control methods and tools from Local Land Services and having their support to continually get on top of feral pig numbers over a longer period, showed me the impact you can achieve through longer control programs.

Funding

The NSW Government has committed $13.1 million dollars in the 2024-25 Budget to delivering the Feral Pig and Pest Program. This project is part of the $945.7 million investment to continue the critical role of prevention and protection against biosecurity threats.

To learn more about pest animal management, call LLS on 1300 795 299 and ask to speak with your local biosecurity officer.

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