Community & Business
18 October, 2021
Funding needed to combat feral pigs
FARMERS have made the desperate plea for grants to be made available to tackle the millions of destructive feral pigs that continually devastate their crops.
FARMERS have made the desperate plea for grants to be made available to tackle the millions of destructive feral pigs that continually devastate their crops.
Member for Hill Shane Knuth and Member for Kennedy Bob Katter have always been vocal about their stance on feral pigs and have joined farmers in their journey to secure grants.
Silkwood cane grower Levis Campagnolo said that feral pigs have a significant impact on a farms profit and immediate help was needed from both levels of government to establish better control measures.
“If a grant could be available for the structure of fences on our boundary, it would go a long way,” he said.
“We aren’t asking for a handout, not a total subsidy, just a grant where the farmer puts some money in, and the government puts some money in.
“Once a family of pigs get into your cane, the traps are not effective for stopping them.
“They learn to know where the traps are and avoid them, and by the time you notice the pig damage, they have devasted an entire crop.”
Like Silkwood and the Innisfail area, Mareeba and Mossman are massive hubs for sugarcane growing and production with two mills in the region.
Over the years some local farmers have reported hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in damages, caused by feral pigs and their voracious appetite.
Mr Knuth said this was an issue which had been ongoing for a long time and is constantly an item on the KAP agenda.
“The reality is that KAP have been warning governments and authorities for years now about the feral pig problem,” Mr Knuth said.
“It is time to step up and provide more funding for aerial pig shooting and for recreational hunters to receive permits to access state forests and national parks, which are a huge breeding ground for feral pigs.
“We almost have more pigs in this country than we have people. It is long overdue for both governments to step up and do something about these feral pests.”
