PRODUCERS in the Ashley and Garah areas have worked together during the last 12 months to reduce the impact feral pigs were having on cropping, grazing and native vegetation corridors in the area.
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The program saw a group of neighbours working together for a common cause. Their united approach was boosted through the receipt of funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country initiative and support from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.
This project was initiated by a group of cotton growers who attended a fauna workshop, coordinated by the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association (GVIA), Regional Landcare Facilitator.
During the workshop the growers identified feral pigs as a major source of crop damage. Many had also observed evidence of pig damage along stream banks which if allowed to get worse, has the potential to cause significant erosion.
The group decided to address the problem with a coordinated approach. Producers along the Carole Creek and the Gingham Channel were contacted and the first of two area-wide control programs took place.
“We rang farmers and graziers along the water courses to assess the level of pig damage they were seeing,” grower Mark Winter said.
“Before we knew it we had 31 properties and 68,000 hectares involved in the eradication program,” he added.
The group has worked together with two coordinated control programs to date, one in November 2012 and a second one in August 2013.
The aim was to reduce feral pig numbers and limit the damage they were causing to the environment.
“The removal of 580 pigs in the first shoot and a further 576 pigs in the second has significantly reduced the impact this introduced species was having on the environment,” Mr Winter said.
The control program has incorporated not only an aerial approach, but trapping and a managed baiting program.
Additionally individual producers are controlling pigs found on a daily basis.
With the numbers seen now winter crops are being harvested Mr Winter expects that the group will coordinate another aerial program in the near future.
“The project reinforced the value of community communication,” said Louise Gall from the Gwydir Valley Irrigators Association.
“Working in area-wide management groups producers will have greater impact in their ongoing program to eradicate feral pigs,” she added.
