Sheep producers in central and western Victoria have echoed calls from Gippsland farmers to put pressure on the state government to confirm the continuation of the state's wild dog program.
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Rock-Bank Merino stud principal John Crawford, Victoria Valley, said sheep farmers would "leave the industry" if the state government's wild dog management plan ended in October.
Mr Crawford said not only would livestock and domestic animals fall prey to wild dogs, but the presence of dingoes would drastically reduce the number of vulnerable species like the Malleefowl bird.
"Once you get the numbers starting up, dingoes and wild dogs will just span out because they will run out of food and keep pushing out to other areas," he said.
"It's taken... over 100 years to get them to a stage where they are manageable here."
He said continuing the plan would ensure wild dog trappers working under it, especially in the Wimmera-Mallee, could be assured of their work after October.
"I just wish the Victorian government [would] find a spine and make a decision one way or the other," he said.
A Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action spokesperson did not respond to specific questions on the future of dog trappers in the state.
The spokesperson said lethal and non-lethal control techniques were deployed to control wild dogs and a number of resources were encompassed within the program.
"We're supporting farmers to apply best-practice management, including the deployment of lethal and non-lethal control techniques such as baiting, fencing and the use of guardian animals," the spokesperson said.
Victoria Stud Merino Sheep Breeders Association president and Koole Vale Merino stud principal Alan Harris, Costerfield, said if the plan was not renewed, Merino sheep and wool industries would be "going into the unknown".
"[The plan] is not 100 per cent effective, but it does give the farmer better control and it's working better than what it was prior to the plan's existence," he said.
"I'm just disappointed that there seems to be no consultation with people who this decision will affect most."
Member for East Gippsland Tim Bull called on Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos to give some certainty about the plan in Parliament last week.
Mr Bull said there needed to be changes to the three-kilometre livestock protection buffer on public land to hunt wild dogs "to get doggers into the wider bush to undertake their control programs".
Mr Crawford dismissed a recent The University of New South Wales study that found wild dingoes had less dog lineage than previously thought.
He instead urged researchers to travel to regional areas and understand what happened on farm regarding wild dog management.
"This is just stupidity dreamt up from a few inner-city green professors who think they can tell us how to farm," he said.
