NZ Pest Crisis Costs Farmers $466M a Year — Survey

Richard Dawkins, Federated Farmers pest management spokesperson, says individual farmers are already doing plenty, but their efforts are being undermined by pests reinvading from neighbouring land.

"We've spent years trying to tackle this species by species and property by property. The numbers tell us that approach isn't working," Dawkins says.

Pests Now Costing Farmers $466 Million a Year

The survey estimates pests are costing New Zealand farmers around $466 million annually through direct control costs and lost production. Two-thirds of farmers now report pest numbers have increased over the past five years — up sharply from around half in 2024.

On average, farmers are spending $6.18 per hectare each year on pest control, a rise of roughly 13% in just two years.

Hunting Effort Is High — But Not Enough

Recreational and on-farm hunting is deeply embedded in New Zealand's rural pest control effort.

Farmers, their families and staff carry out pest control on more than nine in ten farms, with recreational hunters also assisting on around half.

"There's already a huge amount of hunting happening across rural New Zealand, and pest populations are still increasing," Dawkins says. "We are not going to shoot our way out of this problem one weekend at a time."

Stocking Rates Falling as Pests Eat Into Pasture

Nearly one in three farmers are now reducing stocking rates because pests are consuming so much pasture — up from just one in nine farmers in 2024.

Beyond pasture loss, Dawkins says the financial toll extends to crop damage, reduced yields, damage to fences and gates, and disease spread by pests. One farmer reported losing around $100,000 after a leptospirosis outbreak caused widespread abortions in ewes and heifers, believed to be linked to wild pigs moving in from neighbouring properties.

Forestry and Crown Land Named as Main Reinvasion Sources

The survey found farmers consistently point to neighbouring forestry and Crown land — not other farms — as the primary source of pest reinvasion.

"If farmers are expected to control pests, then so should lifestyle block owners, forestry owners and those managing Crown and conservation land, with regional councils monitoring and enforcing compliance," Dawkins says. "Farmers should not be left carrying the cost when deer and pigs spill across the boundary."

Deer Numbers Surge as Culling Effort Doubles

Deer culled per hectare have more than doubled since 2024, and the proportion of farmers actively managing deer has risen 13%. Despite this, deer now rank third nationally for overall pest impact and are named the single worst pest by more farmers than any species except possums.

Dawkins says any national strategy needs clear, independently set population targets based on the actual damage pests cause — not the interests of any single group.

"Eighty-three percent of pest managers in our survey said the pest species on their farm had no economic value to them. This means deer numbers need to be managed around the damage they are doing to farms, forests and native vegetation, not around how many animals somebody would like left in the hills. We don't need any one interest group setting the target and then marking its own homework."

Possums, Wild Pigs, Geese and Wallabies All Increasing

Wild pigs, Canada geese and wallabies are also trending upward. Possums are a particular concern: as historic TB control programmes are wound back, farmers report possum numbers building up again after years of suppression.

"We can't spend decades knocking possum numbers down, declare victory over TB, then simply walk away and let them come roaring back," Dawkins says.

Federated Farmers Calls for a National Pest Strategy

Dawkins says coordinated pest control programmes have proven effective at reducing numbers, reinforcing the case for a nationally funded strategy with clear responsibilities across farmers, forestry, councils and the Crown.

"We've been calling for a national pest strategy for some time. These results show why it can't sit on the to-do list any longer. We've diagnosed the problem to death. It's time to actually treat it."