Fencing Biosecure Production Zones and Pest Knockout Grant Program

The overarching program was to produce biosecure production zones throughout western New South Wales. It was targeted more at clusters of properties rather than individuals. We wanted to get as much area as possible behind a secure fence for the money we had.

If your fencing isn’t up to standard, ferals just keep moving through. So even if you knock down pigs and goats in the area, a few weeks later a new mob will come through, and you have to start all over again.

The pigs were giving us a lot of trouble, especially with eating lambs. In this paddock we’re standing in—which isn’t overly big for the area—before we had the fencing done, we marked 33% lambs in scanned ewes. So pigs were making a big impact on our production.

Previously, we’d run poisoning programs for wild pigs or muster up feral goats and send them off, but they’d just move straight back in. There was no way to keep new numbers out. As soon as there was open space, more would move straight back in. We were seeing a lot of uncontrolled grazing pressure on both crops and pastures and couldn’t control wildlife numbers.

We’d run the usual programs to clean them up, but without exclusion fencing, new numbers would just move straight back in. We’d come down here, see mobs of pigs coming in, shoot them, bait them, come back the next day—same thing. More flowing through. It wasn’t fun. It was a lot of work. Pretty gutting, really. It all hits the back pocket.

If we were feeding 300 goats, we could’ve been feeding 300 sheep—and sheep are worth a lot more money than goats. Getting the stocking rates right was near impossible. In our cropping areas, we were seeing significant yield losses where scrubby country bordered crops. Goats and pigs would go in at night, chew the crop right down, and significantly reduce yields.

The program went across nine properties covering about 340,000 hectares and supplied around 350 kilometres of fencing. That gives a much bigger area for coordinated pest management through aerial shooting, ground shooting, baiting, and poisoning. When everyone is doing ground baiting, it has a much bigger impact.

We’d already decided we needed to install exclusion fencing—it was the only way to maintain that pressure. We’d worked with Local Land Services on pest management programs in the past, and when we heard about this program, we got on board. It really fast-tracked everything.

We’d always thought about putting exclusion fencing around this side of the boundary, and when the opportunity came, it made sense to get involved. It hasn’t been long enough yet to see the full economic benefits, but we know they’ll come. We can already see reduced feral numbers where we’ve cleared them out, so we’re confident that within the next five to ten years, the benefits will be obvious.

Now, when we clear out pigs and goats inside the fence, they can’t just move straight back in. We knew there’d be benefits, but until we got it up, we didn’t realise the full extent. The way it’s slowed down the pig problem has been amazing—going from losing more than half our lambs to now being back around 100% lambing.

It’s a no-brainer. We just need to maintain the fence and keep our pest management program up to scratch. Eventually, we’ll get the numbers inside the fence right down, and hopefully, it’ll take them a long time to build back up—if ever.

The project is being monitored by 31 cameras across the nine properties. It’s still early days, and we’re collating data, but it’s already showing fewer ferals inside the properties and less movement through. Wherever exclusion fencing has gone up and feral pigs and goats have been removed, they’re not maintaining a presence in that habitat.

We’re confident that will allow native wildlife to rebuild and flourish. We’ve already seen more ground cover coming through and more native animals back in the region. It also means less loss from prime production—whether crops or livestock—so there’s more money to invest in internal fencing and improving the country.

I won’t be too worried going into the next drought. Everything’s easier now—it’s easier to grow crops and keep goats and kangaroos off them.

Thanks to everyone involved, from the application stage through to those funded and working with us these past few years. Support from Local Land Services has been incredible. We already had a good relationship with them, and their help with both the exclusion fencing program and ongoing management—like 1080 poison grain and aerial shoots—has been invaluable.

If you’re thinking about doing a similar program, don’t just look at the initial cost of fencing or clearing. Think long-term—about what’s going to benefit you five or ten years down the track.