WALCHA shire farmers will have added help to combat weeds and pests thanks to a funding boost for Walcha Shire Council.
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The council has secured more than $986,000 courtesy of the federal government's Communities Combating Pest and Weed Impacts During Drought Program.
The project will help 150 farmers in the Moona-Winterbourne areas by providing a 44km predator-proof linear fence, which will directly protect 110,000 hectares of livestock production, as well protect 150 landowners from the threat of wild dogs and pests.
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Walcha mayor Eric Noakes said the project would commence in July 2020 and be completed by December next year.
"With the invasion of wild dogs and the ever increasing issue of deer and other pests, this fence will provide a very effective barrier," Cr Noakes said.
"Walcha Council is honoured to support the foresight shown by the landholders in the Moona-Winterbourne area that had the vision to recognise the opportunity of this grant stream.
"The in-kind support of so many organisations and farmers in this important project for Walcha will not only benefit them but also our local economy."
New England MP Barnaby Joyce said the issue of wild dogs was one he was all too familiar with.
"When I left Western Queensland the biggest issue was the wild dog problem, and then my first meeting at Nundle was around the same issue," Mr Joyce said.
"Subsequent meetings in Walcha raised the same problem of feral animals and their impact on the viability of running livestock.
"It is great to be able to put close to $1 million to assist in the solving of this issue for Walcha graziers".
The fence will separate the highly fertile and productive land within the Walcha shire from the Eastern Escarpment.
The introduction of the fence will come after more than a decade of lobbying from producers, Local Land Services and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
AWI North East NSW wild dog management co-ordinator David Worsley will lead the project and said the fence would make a substantial difference for farmers, as well as native animals like koalas and quolls.
"The project will provide unprecedented choice of enterprise for landholders in the area and a future in agriculture for the next generation by excluding wild dogs and other pest species from the highly fertile Moona-Winterbourne area," Mr Worsley said.
Mr Worsley said every dollar spent to construct the fence is projected to return a benefit in excess of $3.25 per year for the life of the fence.
"You cannot put a price on the mental health impacts of wild dog predation or fully understand the impact they can have unless you have directly experienced it," he said.
"By controlling this threat, our sheep enterprises can generate more employment, meaning jobs for our children and a brighter future for the whole Walcha community".
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
