Changes to dog fence rateable area open wider funding discussion

Funding for ongoing maintenance of the SA Dog Fence presently comes from rates applied to landowners with more than 1000 hectares within the designated rateable area, which has been mooted for expansion to 150 kilometres from the fence.

Those within the rateable area pay $2 for every square kilometre they own, annually.

All SA sheep owners also contribute 67 cents a head for every sheep sold - when five or more are sold for $5 a head or more - to the Sheep Industry Fund, with 12c from this directed to the dog fence rebuild.

RELATED READING: Dog Fence maintenance needs lead to proposal to increase funds

A station manager within the rateable area, Chris Reynolds said one idea that had been raised at a rateable area meeting was the prospect of every Property Identification Code number holder in the state making a contribution.

"It was only at that meeting that a lot of us realised it was only from north of Orrorroo upwards that paid a (rateable area) dog fence levy," he said. "We thought the whole state paid it."

Mr Reynolds said many near the fence were not only "holding the line" and preventing dogs from coming further south through trapping, baiting and shooting efforts, but also being slugged the landowners rate, as well as the sheep industry fund contribution.

"If you're eligible for a PIC number, no matter if you have cattle, sheep or goats, every PIC number should pay a rate," he said.

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Billa Kalina Station's Colin Greenfield said they had significant stretches of property bordering either side of the dog fence and the proposal to expand the rateable area could go much further.

He said while the prospect of applying a rate to all PIC holders would receive pushback from producers down south, current efforts and contributions were weighing too heavily on those landowners close to the fence.

"It's completely inequitable for the ones alongside it," he said.

"There'd certainly be some pushback from large producers in the southeast (if all PIC holders were charged dog fence rates) but one way or another they all benefit from having a sheep industry north of Adelaide."

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said the whole of the state's sheep industry was paying for the dog fence build and ongoing maintenance, but whether they were paying the appropriate amount was a discussion to be had at the completion of the rebuild.

"The dog fence is already funded through the Sheep Industry Fund levy so the whole sheep industry is supporting the fence through that," he said.

"It's a commitment the whole sheep industry has made to get the fence rebuilt and contribute to its maintenance.

"Livestock SA will look for a sustainable funding model at the completion of the rebuild project and we will canvas a number of options to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the fence."

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SA Dog Fence Board chair Geoff Power disagreed with the notion of applying a rate to all PIC holders.

"We've tried to shift the boundaries (of the rateable area) further south to match up with where dog impacts are starting to show," he said.

Mr Power said he and the board were open to hearing all feedback on the dog fence rateable area, and any other wild dog-related discussion points, at hold drop-in sessions, held in conjunction with Livestock SA, at Wudinna (May 31), Orroroo (June 1) and Burra (June 2).

He said baiting and trapping programs and the fence rebuild had started to make an impact on wild dog numbers inside the fence, but there was no room for complacency.

KEVIN Dawes and family run Farina Station near Lyndhurst and say they are the only Merino producers left north of Leigh Creek.

He said neighbouring stations had steered away from Merinos and opted for Dorpers due to wild dogs.

"Going back 20-30 years ago there used to be Merinos right up to the Dog Fence but most have gone out of Merinos because of the dingoes," he said.

Mr Dawes said while wild dog numbers were "not too bad" currently, they had had serious issues during the past six years.

"In the past five or six years, we've been losing up to 1000 sheep a year," he said.

"It's not profitable when that continues to happen. It's too many when you're running 4000 or 5000 sheep, you're not making much of a living out of it."

Mr Dawes said there needed to be statewide industry contribution to the wild dog fight, to ensure the efforts of those on "the frontline" were not in vain.

"We're at the frontline and are stopping a lot of them, but a lot are still getting through and going further south, as far as Hawker and further," he said.

"We're trapping and baiting and shooting in an effort to try and keep numbers down and if we weren't doing that, the dogs would be a long way further south. I think people within the fence, right through, should pay something towards its upkeep."

Mr Dawes said once the new fence was completed, the major focus would need to turn to getting rid of wild dog populations established inside the fence.

"Funding for doggers has got to continue, because we don't have the manpower or time to manage without them," he said.