Bec Gray takes on role as state’s first feral pig coordinator

On Wednesday, the NSW government announced it was “raising the stakes” in the war on pest animals, with the state’s first feral pig coordinator ready to roll-out a boosted $13 million control program to support farmers.

Wee Waa’s Bec Gray has been appointed as the NSW feral pig coordinator, stepping up to the tough task of leading a program that aims to reduce the explosion in feral pig numbers and stop the devastation they cause the agricultural sector and the environment.

Ms Gray brings local knowledge to the role as well as 12 years of experience working directly with landholders to manage feral pigs and other pest animals.

“I am excited to get started and work with a fantastic team as part of this new role,” said Local Land Services feral pig coordinator Ms Gray, who is now based in Tamworth but still calls Wee Waa home and visits the district regularly.

As well as the new coordinator role, the government said the control program also includes: establishing three priority landscape control zones to knock down numbers and reduce impacts in feral pig hotspots across the North West, Riverina, and western NSW; boosting regional control programs, including 46 of the highly effective aerial shooting campaigns, and further support existing landholder driven programs; equipping farmers with 99 capacity building events to inform them on the latest tools and advice needed to actively manage pest animals and fully subsidising the cost of treating grain to bait feral pigs for farmers participating in the Feral Fighters program.

During the next eight months, Ms Gray will drive the program to cull at least 87,000 feral pigs across NSW with a high focus on the three priority hotspots.

These hotspots are known as ‘landscape control zones’ and are based on known feral pig populations, impacts on agricultural and environmental assets, plus known landholder control efforts.

The government said this model has proven to be a leading approach to pest animal management with biosecurity officers and landholders working side by side, across private and public land.

NSW Local Land Services will adapt programs based on feral pig behaviours and movements.

With predicted dry conditions and warm weather this summer, control programs will focus around water resources as feral pigs will concentrate in these areas as other water sources deplete.

“We are here to provide support to farmers and to help coordinate large-scale feral pig control programs. Land managers need to play their role and participate in these programs,” said Ms Gray.

“I have seen firsthand the damage feral pigs cause to agricultural production and the environment, and I am pleased to see a dedicated feral pig program to assist landowners to manage this issue.

“One of the focuses of this program is capacity-building, to ensure landholders can continue to manage feral pigs on their property into the future to protect their farming operations.

“The more landholders taking part in control programs, the more successful they will be at reducing feral pig numbers and protecting farming operations.

“I encourage farmers and land managers to get in contact with their nearest Local Land Services Biosecurity Officer and work closely with their neighbours in coordinated programs as this gets the best results.”

“We have listened to farmers’ concerns since we were elected to government, and we have now delivered a practical plan that will tackle the feral pig population in NSW, getting results in the paddocks and for communities.

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty added, “Feral pigs are destructive animals that have huge impacts to farming operations, our economy and our biodiversity.

“I welcome Bec Gray to the pig coordinator role and look forward to her leading the way in managing the feral pig program.

“This new $13 million program is modelled on extremely successful pig control programs and is targeting areas across the state with high density feral pig populations to get the greatest impact on pig numbers.

“A strong focus of the program is supporting landholders through practical training to help control feral pigs on their properties and subsided feral pig bait.

“Tackling a rising feral pig population requires government and farmers to work side by side, and this program will do exactly that.”

Member for Barwon Roy Butler told The Courier, “The $13 million announced by the government is a great start and far outweighs anything that has been put on the table so far.

“Public lands should not benefit from this funding. It must be for private landholders controlling feral pigs on private property.

“What is crucial now is that $13 million ends up in the right place, equipping farmers and landholders and enabling them to conduct control programs that actively reduce feral pig numbers.

“Farmers and landholders already possess significant knowledge of managing pest species.

“They need the hardware for trapping, baiting and any necessary support for shooting and reduced bureaucratic red tape to get on with the job.”

NSW Farmers Narrabri branch chair David Scilley said, “We welcome the appointment of Bec Gray as the state’s first feral pig coordinator and the plans to cull at least 87,000 feral pigs in the next eight months.

“However, there is a concern among rural communities that this funding is nowhere near enough to deliver a sustained and ongoing impact.

“While this is a good start, we need to break that breeding cycle, which means taking out 70 per cent of the breeding population per annum.

“That’s a longer-term commitment than one year’s funding, we need to maintain momentum in tackling this problem because of the enormous threat it poses for the state’s biosecurity outcomes.”

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said, “The Labor government’s $13 million feral pig control program is a good start but simply doesn’t go far enough.

“The former Coalition government had almost $18 million on the table to deliver the largest feral animal control program in the state’s history at the end of last year.

“There was $5 million left over from that commitment, which means Labor is only throwing an extra $8 million in to get on top of this problem.

“While this investment is a welcome step, the government is taking a short-sighted approach.

“An eight-month sugar hit won’t achieve the ongoing co-ordinated results we need, and I am calling on the government to provide more certainty around how it will control feral pig numbers in the months and years after that.”

As previously reported by The Courier, an Ag Econ report for North West Local Land Services, revealed feral pigs have cost agricultural production in the North West an estimated $47 million in damage. The study focused on the winter 2020 and summer 2020/21 cropping periods.

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