Commitment and patience in feral pig control has delivered dividends for a Lake Cargelligo producer who successfully baited 100 per cent of the pigs being seen on his property.
Rod Bartholomew of Karingal near Lake Cargelligo, worked with Central West Local Land Services (LLS) senior biosecurity officer Craig Ridley over two weeks to target feral pig populations near his crops.
"We've had pigs on and off here for the past 20 years," Mr Bartholomew said.
Property frontage to the Ural Range and the Lachlan River as well as 1600 hectares of crop sown this year provided ideal conditions for pig numbers to rise.
"When we were sowing the pigs were digging at night where we'd spilt some grain on the ground," he said.
"Some of the earlier crop is now getting advanced so we had to get the pigs now because if they started camping in the crop you'd never see them.
"I got on to Craig and he brought the cameras out and set them up where the pigs were feeding.
"We estimated there were around 30 pigs there.
"We saw a few smaller ones then a few big boars and big sows just before farrowing.
"The camera meant we were getting shots of how many were at each site."
The team monitored and free fed the pigs over two weeks to establish how many feral pigs were present as well as the timing and cycle of feeding.
"We put out 25-30 kilograms to start with then built up to 60 kilograms. I was going out every two to three nights to replace the grain," Mr Bartholomew said.
"We baited them last week and got everything we had seen on the camera and a few extras.
"It was a great success."
Mr Bartholomew encouraged other producers to take the time to monitor and free-feed feral pigs for best results.
"You've got to be prepared to put the time in," he said.
"You can't just do it here and there because some pigs will get a sub-lethal dose and will never touch grain again and just walk past it every time."
Mr Ridley said working with landholders was part of a combination of efforts CWLLS was using to target feral pigs.
"We did an aerial shoot in the area last year which resulted in the removal of 293 feral pigs," Mr Ridley said.
"The aerial shoot had been successful however after the change in season at the start of the year numbers became more noticeable again.
"I would encourage landholders to work with their local Biosecurity Officer and their neighbours to achieve the best control rates in one go rather than putting out small amounts of poison grain here and there and hoping for the best."
