Rate limit for pests rises

Press, 9 May 1978, Page 11

Rate limit for pests rises

Pest destruction boards may now levy rates up to 60c per ha, a member ot the Agricultural Pests Destruction Council, Mr R. W. P. Cameron, of Kurovz, told the annual meeting of the North Canterbury Pest Destruction Boards’ Council. The limit was previously 37c. This, he said, had been done for boards that had country carrying 14 sheep to the ha. A rate of 37c where that number of sheep was being carried was “goad going,” he said, but on some country where the rate was 10c per acre and a sheep was carried to three acres this was equivalent to 30c per sheep.

But Mr Cameron warned that rates should not be pushed too high as subsidies would also rise.

Mr Cameron said that they had been a long time trying to eradicate the rabbit and in fact this was possible in Southland and eastern Southland.

Opossums had virtually been eradicated from some areas, he Mid, but at a fantastic cost. But it was not necessary to eradicate all opossums. The healthy opossum was worth a lot of money. The objective was rather to eliminate bovine tuberculosis. Mr Cameron nevertheless urged that poisoning should be continued against opossums and they should not be taken tod lightly or they would become a menace.

He said that private trappers could not be relied on to deal with them especially when skin prices fell.