By Webfit News | 17 October 2026 National’s promise of an extra $16 million for pest control has been welcomed by Federated Farmers, which says farmers’ efforts are too often...
By Webfit News | 17 October 2026
National’s promise of an extra $16 million for pest control has been welcomed by Federated Farmers, which says farmers’ efforts are too often undone by pests moving in from neighbouring land.
The election pledge would provide funding over four years from the International Visitor Levy fund if National is re-elected. It would support coordinated control across farms, forestry and Crown land, beginning in the Central North Island and Southern Westland.
Federated Farmers pest management spokesperson Richard Dawkins said the announcement addressed concerns farmers had been raising about both funding and coordination.
“This announcement is an incredibly positive step in the right direction,” he said.
For farmers, the challenge extends beyond controlling pests on their own properties.
Dawkins said farmers already invest in control, allow hunters access and work with councils and other agencies. However, those efforts can be undermined when adjoining land is not managed to the same standard.
He said a coordinated approach across private land and the Department of Conservation estate was essential.
“Nobody can solve this problem alone because pests don’t respect boundary fences.”
The proposed funding would be additional to a separate $9.7 million, four-year government funding boost announced earlier this year, according to Federated Farmers.
Federated Farmers’ 2026 National Pests Survey estimates pests cost farmers about $466 million annually through control expenses and lost production.
The organisation says two-thirds of farmers reported increasing pest numbers over the past five years, while average spending on control had risen to $6.18 per hectare.
The figures underline the concern behind its election priorities: farmers are spending money on control while many continue to report growing pest pressure.
While welcoming the pledge, Dawkins cautioned that additional money alone would not resolve the problem.
He said investment needed to sit within a framework that maintained reductions over time, rather than allowing pest populations to recover once funding ended.
For Federated Farmers, the measure of success would be whether farmers experienced less pest pressure and whether an enduring control system was established.
The organisation had included reducing pest numbers and directing visitor levy funding towards conservation among its policy priorities for the 2026 election.
National’s announcement remains an election commitment, conditional on the party being returned to government.
Source: Federated Farmers media release, 16 October 2026.
