IT may take another three years before sheep are free to roam without fear of predation on pastoral properties in the Murchison, according to Mt Magnet Shire president Jorgen Jensen, Yowergabbie station.
Mr Jensen said he was hoping the Murchison Regional Vermin Cell fence would be completed by mid 2021 as the first step in achieving that outcome but the Recognised Biosecurity Group (RBG) was "looking ahead of that now".
"I'd expect sheep grazing to increase from two years after that, depending on if we can get more funding for much-needed extra doggers to clean the cell of wild dogs, back to a manageable level at least," Mr Jensen said.
"Time is an issue and we don't want to waste any."
Mr Jensen said there was no point spending millions of dollars to install a fence if it wasn't backed up by additional funding to support 8-10 doggers to clear out the area for sheep to be farmed there again.
He predicted they would need about $8 million to get the job done.
"We need good doggers if we are to get numbers down for the RBGs to handle the maintenance on their own," he said.
"To make the most of the cell there needs to be a sustained resourcing for five years inside the fence with an increased number of doggers.
"At the moment we have about two to three full-time doggers - still with baiting going on.
"In the end a fence is just a fence - it won't do the job on its own.
"At my place over the past three months doggers have trapped six dogs and I wouldn't be surprised if there was 50-60 of them out there."
Mr Jensen said pastoralists were doing what they could to manage the issue but time was against them - especially if they had to work off station to support themselves financially.
He said the pastoral industry would improve its viability with small stock but it depended on the size of the property, the type of country, rainfall and advancements in technology.
"People shouldn't be forced to run cattle because they can't run sheep," Mr Jensen.
"Sheep and goat prices have been high and no one has been able to capitalise on it.
"Droughts haven't helped, but we can manage that."
Mr Jensen said the issue should have been dealt with 10 years ago before the wild dog numbers got to the current level.
He said the State government's support had been well received and appreciated, but pastoralists wouldn't be able to complete the work that has been started on their own.
In February 2018 WA Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan announced $4.03 million in funding for the Rangelands Cell Fencing Program.
The Kalgoorlie Pastoral Alliance Cell received $2m, Southern Gascoyne Rangelands Cell ($986,000), Murchison Regional Vermin Cell ($594,000), and the Murchison Hub Cell ($450,000).
In order to be successful in receiving the funds each group had to contribute a minimum of 50 per cent of the overall cost of fence construction and commit to ongoing fence maintenance and wild dog management within the cell.
By constructing the cell fences and culling wild dogs from the area, pastoralists will be able to diversify more, better utilise the land and improve profitability - while hopefully being more resilient to future dry seasons.
Wildlife which have been falling victim to wild dogs will also have a chance to thrive within the fenced area.
WAFarmers Livestock Section president David Slade said the organisation had "advocated strongly in support of funding for cluster fencing that has proven to be very successful in Queensland".
"There is also still a lot of work to be done in controlling vermin outside the fence boundaries with the increasing number of wild dogs in pastoral areas continuing to threaten livestock on these properties," Mr Slade said.
"Lack of management of wild dogs in areas controlled by absentee owners, mining and government (entities) also places a significant burden on other pastoralists."
The issue was highlighted last year when aerial shoots were funded in the pastoral areas to keep camel, donkey and dog numbers down.
Mr Slade said over the years the nature of the wild dog problem had changed.
"The original dingo would usually only have one litter of two or three pups a year and these dingoes would roam in small numbers of ones or twos," he said.
"In contrast, the dingo crossed with the domestic dog will usually have two litters a year, raising five to six pups per litter.
"These cross bred dogs hunt in packs killing dozens of sheep or goats in one night."
Mr Slade said areas that previously ran significant numbers of sheep were now unable to stock them due to the damage caused by wild dogs.
"While the sheep in these areas have now been replaced by cattle, the dogs have now turned their attention to attacking cattle, killing young calves and biting and damaging others, making these animals unsaleable," Mr Slade said.
Some of these have been presented for sale at Muchea and the sale price has been reduced.
Mr Slade said the State Barrier Fence (SBF) provided strong protection for agricultural producers within its boundaries, "preventing large mobs of kangaroos and emus from damaging crops in grain growing areas as well as protecting livestock from increasing numbers of wild dogs".
"WAFarmers has also strongly supported the Industry Management Committee for Sheep and Goats in raising the biosecurity levy to include wild dog control inside the SBF," he said.
"It was imperative that any dogs currently inside the fence boundaries are controlled and eradicated.
"Anyone who has witnessed the damage caused by wild dogs to vulnerable sheep and lambs would appreciate the value of an effective SBF."
Mr Slade said the organisation's council representatives, including Scott Pickering, Cascade, had put a massive amount of effort into achieving the outcomes seen regarding the SBF.
"We have campaigned strongly for this for many years and it is pleasing to achieve a successful outcome and ensure the SBF is repaired and fit-for-purpose and gain funding for the completion of the Esperance Extension," Mr Slade said.
"Scott Pickering has been the WAFarmers representative on the Wild Dog Committee.
"Scott and other members of the Livestock Council have attended many meetings with ministers, forums and workshops, and the completion of the Esperance Extension will be a credit to all those involved."
Eneabba/Perenjori sheep producer and acting chairman of the Central Wheatbelt Biosecurity Association (CWBA), Chris Patmore, said the SBF needed to be maintained to a high standard to ensure that wild dogs were not entering the agricultural lands of southern WA.
"The CWBA is appreciative of the State government's commitment and investment in maintenance, upgrades and replacement of the SBF under the Royalties for Regions Wild Dog Action Plan," Mr Patmore said.
"It is the critical tool for the CWBA to stop wild dogs entering agricultural land and for our Licenced Pest Management Technicians (LPMT) to work with.
"Without that fence, we have no chance of stemming the flow of dogs coming from the rangelands."
Mr Patmore said in the CWBA area in 2020, 12km of the SBF had been replaced through Bunnawarra/Badja with a further 62km still to be completed through Karara/Lochada and Wannara stations.
"This work was much needed and is essential for the CWBA to ensure that it can undertake effective control activities and eradication of wild dogs within its region," he said.
"Having the SBF well maintained gives producers the confidence to run livestock enterprises in the CWBA region."
The 1190km fence, extends from the Zuytdorp cliffs north of Kalbarri in the State's north through to Jerdacuttup east of Ravensthorpe in the south.
Since 2010, $13.82m has been allocated from Royalties for Regions funds to upgrade and extend the fence and support the employment of eight doggers.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is responsible for managing the maintenance and construction of the SBF.
The State government released its wild dog action package in November 2017, which was prepared to help protect and revitalise the pastoral and agricultural industries and drive job growth across the regions, while ensuring the most effective use of funds.
Contracts to repair and maintain the existing SBF maximised Aboriginal employment to a cost of $4.8m.
Eight additional LPMTs via RBGs were funded for three years to $2.36m.
In May the State government committed a further $750,000 towards maintaining on ground control measures by funding eight doggers inside the SBF and adjacent buffer zone for a further 12 months.
