A REPORT into the financial and social impacts of wild dog attacks on the sheep and cattle industries shows some farmers are spending a month each year tackling the issue on their farm.
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The last in a series of reports from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences for Australian Wool Innovation paints a stark picture about the financial and social impacts of wild dogs on the agriculture industry.
The report analysed the results of a survey of more than 1000 landholders in wild dog-affected areas, and highlighted the importance of strong leadership and co-ordinated on-the-ground efforts to combat the problem.
“This latest report showed that, on average, each landholder surveyed spent about 26 days and around $7200 a year on wild dog management, and that they were forced to remain constantly vigilant for attacks, especially during lambing season,” Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said.
“And those figures only take into account the direct costs of management efforts, like baiting and trapping, materials and so on.
“When you look at the financial costs across the whole sector – in livestock losses, disease transmission and control costs – wild dogs were estimated back in 2004 to cost our agricultural industries up to $66 million per year. The current costs could be significantly higher.
