Australia’s Pig Problem

I’ve spent most of my working life alongside Australian farmers, and I can tell you this: few challenges grind them down quite like feral pigs.

Every state has recognised the threat, with serious funding now going into the fight. In Queensland, the Feral Pest Initiative is backing innovation and diversification in pig control. NSW Local Land Services is supporting landholders with $13.1 million for targeted suppression programs, while Victoria and Western Australia continue to step up surveillance and enforcement to tackle the biosecurity risk. These are vital efforts, and they make a difference. 

So how can producers help fight the good fight? Read on for my practical recommendations on easing feral pig pressure.

 

Counting Pigs

Feral pigs cover nearly half our continent and cost Australian agriculture more than $150 million a year. Feral pig numbers have risen significantly in NSW, especially in peri-urban and rural areas, causing damage to crop, pastures, and biodiversity. For many producers, tens of thousands of dollars disappear each year in an exhausting drip-feed of repairs and lost productivity.

At a glance, major risks associated with these rising numbers include:

• shredded pastures
• smashed fences
• eroded creek lines
• lambing losses
• disease risks
• damaging water systems
  

 

Sneaky, Strong, and Stubborn

So why are these four-legged fiends so hard to beat? After watching this fight unfold across hundreds of properties in my 15-year tenure, I’ve learnt feral pigs breed like nothing else, learn astonishingly fast, and adapt quickly. They move through bush, forestry, farmland, and creek systems, exploiting any gap in a control program. This isn’t a pest you “knock down once”; it’s a pest you manage constantly like weeds or water.

 

What I’m Hearing from Farmers

Feral pigs also seriously impact agriculture: soil disturbance, damage to waterholes and dams, disruption of pastures and cropping lands, and damage to infrastructure including fencing. Producers are eager to implement coordinated response plans to tackle the problem from all angles.

Growing pig populations are not only wreaking havoc on livestock and livelihoods, but there is also growing concern for native wildlife, with feral pigs smashing through traditional fencing infrastructure and encroaching on habitats.

But it is not a lost cause. Where producers have implemented a robust management strategy, they rarely attempt to breach the fence again.

 

Fighting Off Ferals

After years of seeing what’s effective and what isn’t, here’s what I’m convinced of:

1. Local coordination: Align timing, approach and monitoring. When neighbours work together, pig numbers fall.

2. Smarter monitoring: Cameras, drones, fenceline monitoring, mapping hotspots; technology is our friend here. You can’t manage what you can’t see.

3. Integrated control: Trapping, baiting, ground shooting, aerial operations, each plays a role.

4. And finally, in my view the most crucial tool in keeping pesky pigs out: a bloody good fence.

The idea that pigs “squeal and run through” usually happens when the fence is underpowered or poorly installed. With a strong energizer and correct setup, pigs typically avoid the fence after one encounter. My four commandments of a pig proof fence- it must be low, tight, hot, and uncompromising.

Pig-proof fence essentials:

• hot/earth return system
• Hot wires at snout height
• bottom wire no more than 15 cm off the ground
• posts under 10 m apart
• a Gallagher energiser driving serious power

A well-designed electric fence with sufficient voltage and correct wire spacing is critical. Poorly designed fences often fail because pigs can push through when they don’t receive a strong initial shock.

At Gallagher, we’ve worked closely with farmers and pest controllers over the years to refine electric fence configurations that do work against pigs; designing installations that not only deter pigs but condition them to stay away in the long run. 

 

What Tim Thompson’s Case Study Teaches Us

Tim’s recent video from Southern NSW absolutely hit home for me. It featured David Ham’s superfine Merino operation running 7,000 sheep on steep, rocky country bordering feral-ridden bushland. In his final winter before acting, he trapped 76 pigs; and the pressure was getting worse every year.

Then he built the right fence.

A properly designed fence, hot/earth configuration, tight post spacing, wires placed exactly at snout height saw David going from 76 pigs to zero breaches in five years.

It’s proof of what I see out here all the time: good fencing isn’t just a physical barrier- it’s a psychological one.  Pigs lead with their nose, so one solid shock and they change their behaviour fast.

Where to from here?

Feral pigs aren’t going anywhere. But neither are Australian farmers; and the technology to manage this incursion is only getting better.

What gives me hope is what I’ve seen in pockets across NSW and Queensland: when farmers collaborate with neighbours and build infrastructure that stands up to pressure, the battle shifts in their favour.

We’ll never outmuscle pigs. But we can outthink them. And as I tell every farmer I work with: With the right strategy and set up, the results speak for themselves.

If you’re unsure how or where to start, talk to us. At Gallagher, this is what we do: build fencing solutions that work in the real world, where the stakes are high and the conditions are tough. 

 

Brendan Ryan is the Area Manager for Gallagher Animal Management in New South Wales, Australia. He has 15 years of experience with Gallagher, and a lifetime in agriculture, having grown up on sheep, potato, and dairy farms in Western Victoria. Brendan has helped many producers combat ferals through fencing design and technology, with a strong focus on reliability and performance.