Farmers spend millions on pest control

Richard McIntyre hunts Canada geese every year to control their population on his friend’s farm.
photo: Richard McIntyre

Farmers spend millions of dollars each year on pest and disease control, but many feel no progress is being made.

The latest pest survey of 700 farmers by the Federal Farmers’ Association found farmers spend an average of $5.45 per hectare on pest control including deer, goats, possums, cats and geese

Using Statistics New Zealand data on total arable land, the group estimated total spending on pest control at $74 million.

In addition, it is estimated that pests cause losses of approximately US$10 per hectare, totaling up to US$139 million per year nationwide.

Federal Farmers Pest Management spokesman Richard McIntyre said it was a huge cost to rural communities at a time when many farming families were already struggling to make a profit.

“This is a very serious problem, costing New Zealand farmers nearly $250 million a year.”

However, more than 30% of respondents said that measures such as shooting, trapping and poisoning have not had any effect in reducing the number of wild pests.

photo: 123 RF

McIntyre said goat, pig and deer populations are surging across much of the country, but the situation is particularly bad on farms bordering Department of Conservation land.

“DOC is widely viewed by farmers as an unwanted neighbour because they do not fulfil their obligations to control wildlife and weeds.

“Farmers can spend a lot of money controlling pests on their own farms, but if their neighbours don’t do anything, the pests will jump over the fence and you’re back to square one,” he said.

He said the Department of Environmental Protection needed to refocus on pest control.

“We had a meeting with them recently and said if a group of farmers next to MEP land committed to pushing for pest control, could MEP reallocate funding to pest control on their land.”

McIntyre said the request was denied.

“We have to address this problem now. If we allow these animals to continue to breed, their numbers and the costs of controlling them will only continue to grow.

“We understand the Government is under enormous financial pressure, but this is not something New Zealand can afford to skimp on.”

Ben Reddiex, national program director for the Department of Conservation, said the organization was concerned about the increase in pest populations but could not manage exotic animal species everywhere because it was responsible for managing 8.7 million hectares of land.

“We are focused on prioritizing our work to ensure it has the greatest impact, is coordinated with the work of other parties, and is carried out as effectively and efficiently as possible.

“We acknowledge that farmers are frustrated about introduced animals moving onto their land from public reserves and we need everyone to work together to find solutions, rather than the Department of Conservation reprioritizing control at specific plot edges.”

Reddiex said such solutions might include collaboration between farmers and forestry owners and branches of the New Zealand Deer Hunters Association to allow vetted hunters access to land, or removing barriers to support commercial wildlife recovery operators working on private land.

“The Department of Conservation and the Department of Agriculture need to actively share exotic animal control priorities so that we can work most effectively.”

He said the Department of Conservation had increased investment in introduced species management programs thanks to the 2022 budget.

Funding for feral goat control and deer management would increase by about $8 million per year, funding for the National Predator Control Program would increase by $7.5 million per year, and funding for the Predator Free 2050 program would increase by $20 million per year.