Alexander and Rebecca Hunink say Akitio Station has always had a deer problem, but recently numbers have gone through the roof.
“We can look out over the paddocks here and spot 30 or 40 wild deer,” Alexander says.
“At night, when we get out thermal gear, there might be 200.
“One night this month I shot 24 deer in three hours.”
Alexander, who helps Rebecca’s parents on the Tararua coast station, says the damage being caused is immense – and costly.
The station’s annual bill for pest control, loss of production and damage from wild deer and pigs, including in the forestry blocks, would top $75,000.
Meanwhile, at Pārengarenga Station on Aupōuri Peninsula, Northland, Canada geese and wild pigs are stretching the annual pest control budget to $30,000.
“Trying to get on top of geese is frustrating,” farm manager Julian Peters says.
“On the peninsula there’s so much water, lakes and Crown land that if there’s any disturbance, the geese just fly off and hide out.”
They’re facing different challenges, but these farmers – among the 700 others who responded to Federated Farmers’ pest survey – say better cooperation is needed between landowners, the Crown, councils and recreational hunters.
Peters attended a recent hui with local iwi Te Aupōuri, who are keen to tackle Lake Wahakari’s water quality.
“I said you’re not going to get on top of water quality when there’s 600 to 1000 Canada geese dumping potentially a tonne of poo in the lake every day.
“They were 100% open to cooperation with landowners.”
Peters says the Crown and councils also need to front up with more funding for pest control programmes if they’re serious about biodiversity.
“We’re fencing our waterways, we’re cautious about spreading fertiliser and we do a lot of work to protect native bush on the station.
“But where are the government bodies regulating us? They’re doing next to nothing.”
Akitio Station is also trying to co-ordinate with their neighbours.
“Rebecca is on the local catchment board and pest control is on their priority list,” Alexander says.
“People are realising just how much damage is being done.”
He says he’s glad Federated Farmers has done its pest survey.
“We need more data about how big this problem is.
“We also need to make a bigger noise about these challenges and get coordinated action and better resourcing going.”
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
