Farmers and commercial kangaroo shooters say effective control of the animals is coming under increasing pressure from developers, activists, councils and processors.
The state government again increased this year's quota, from 166,750 to 236,350, but at the same time announced it's increased the number of councils excluded from the commercial Kangaroo Harvesting Program from next year.
in 2024, authorities said 80,700, or 34 per cent of the total, can be taken under the Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) permit system.
The remainder, 155,650 kangaroos, can be taken under the KHP, which allows for carcases to be used for human consumption or pet food.
Beef and wheat producer Alan McKenzie, Bulla, is in Hume council, where commercial harvesting of kangaroos will be banned from next year
He said his crops were being destroyed and fences damaged - "it's terrible.
"The extreme damage to fences is affecting the containment of livestock, we are also finding the crops are having a yield reduction of anything up to 50 per cent.
"In some of the paddocks, it might be 100pc."
Mr McKenzie said some housing developers on the fringes of Melbourne were asking farmers to sign "conservation covenants, prohibiting the culling of any kangaroos.
"I am on one of those properties, where I am expected to raise kangaroos, at the same time as I am growing crops," he said.
He described the move to exclude Hume as a "retrograde step", done by people who didn't understand farmers should not be "unpaid park rangers."
Mount Martha professional shooter Adam Crossthwaite said he knew of some landowners, on the Peninsula, who were afraid to cull kangaroos due to public pressure.
While quotas were up "it makes it hard, if you have nowhere to shoot," Mr Crossthwaite said.
The state's seven pet food manufacturers were also opting to take kangaroos out of NSW, he said.
"Over the year a lot of them (processors) dropped prices by 30-40 cents a kilogram, so it's really not worth doing at the moment," he said.
"I know a lot of the abattoirs have cut the number of their shooters down by about three quarters.
"My thinking is I will have to get a day job - I haven't been able to shoot for nearly seven weeks."
Malmsbury professional shooter and beef producer Travis Bruni said while there were 200 professional shooters, registered in Victoria last year, he estimated that figure had dropped to 40.
Mr Bruni said kangaroo meat sales had been affected by the drop in price for beef and lamb.
"Kangaroo and deer were cheaper options, last year, and that even extends to pet food," he said
"When beef and lamb prices are high, pet food prices are high as well.
"I don't think they processed the whole quota last year, and with only 40 shooters being able to harvest and sell this year, they won't probably end up anywhere near the quota this year."
Kangaroos would be shot under ATCW permits and left to rot in the paddock, he said.
"When they are shot and left there, they do cause another problem with foxes, and neighbouring dogs that smell them and come in," he said.
He also runs heifers and calves on a 40 hectare block
"I am feeding them hay already, because come dark, there would be 200 'roos that would come out - and we probably haven't seen the worst of it yet," he said.
Councils are also pressuring the state government to stop commercial kangaroo shooting.
Last year, petitioners asked Macedon Ranges shire to lobby the state government to ban commercial harvesting in the local government area.
In July, Mount Alexander shire voted to lobby the government to ban commercial shooting.
The petition said commercial harvesting of kangaroos did not accord with "community expectations", while it was claimed the long-term sustainability of the kangaroo population was under threat.
Macedon Ranges shire beef producer James Walsh, Pipers Creek, said the continuation of the program was a "lesson to local councils to just get on with their work, instead of wasting time advocating for these types of programs.
"I think they should just stick to roads and garbage and stop wasting time and rate money on taking sides."
He said the problem was only going to get worse, after one of the wettest summers in years.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
