Farmers have called for more funding to get feral pests under control as a new report finds NSW has the highest number of feral mammal species in the nation.
NSW Farmers' Conservation and Resource Management Committee Chair Bronwyn Petrie said the data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics had come as no surprise to farmers battling a surging number of pests across the state.
"It's little wonder we're the feral capital of Australia - we've got hordes of feral pigs and packs of wild dogs as well as feral deer, foxes, cats, rabbits and mice to boot," Mrs Petrie said.
"This is just the start of a long list of feral species that farmers are battling to control as these pests wreak havoc and harm production across the key agricultural regions of our state, trashing crops and pastures and even killing livestock."
More funding to deliver coordinated, long-term, cross-tenure pest control programs around the state would be critical to get NSW's pest problems under control, Mrs Petrie said, with animal pests expected to cause damages in excess of $489 million annually by 2026.
"This destructive front of feral species are not only putting a chokehold on food and fibre production, but the costs to control them are huge, and farmers can't fix the problem alone," Mrs Petrie said.
"The number of feral species has been growing since 2010, and no doubt there will be more feral animal species in increasing numbers to come.
"Consistent, coordinated funding for feral animal control is what our state needs if we want to get these pests under control for the benefit of our landscapes, environment, biosecurity and biodiversity - four things critical to our future."
