But there is little more devastating than seeing your stock, your livelihood, needlessly destroyed.

The battle against foxes is a prime example.

A fifth-generation farmer at Mogo says 70 per cent of his lambs, chickens and poultry were killed by foxes last year.

He tried a range of measures to combat the pest; 1080 poison, fox lights and shooting, to no avail.

At the recommendation of a government representative, Mr Bettington last year laced two kangaroo thighs with Baytex 550, an insecticide spray that is highly toxic to mammals and birds.

He was licensed to use Baytex 550 at the time, and the label, he said, did not warn against using it to bait foxes.

The poison had, however, been taken off the pesticides registration list in 2012 and the Environmental Protection Authority took action.

It said the quantity of poison in one of the baits may have been capable of killing about 2000 pigeons.

About one-gram of the kangaroo thigh meat would have been sufficient to kill a black kite, the EPA said, and native birds including kites, sea-eagles and Australian ravens are common in the Mogo area and scavenge on animal carcasses.

The potential impact to native wildlife and birds should have been taken into account but it needs to be recognised that Mr Bettington was at the end of his tether.

Now, on top of ever-increasing on-farm pressures, he has a $7000 bill to pay.

The Bettingtons’ farm is one of the oldest in the area and they are one of the few families that make their living from their livestock. 

The importance of keeping primary production in our area cannot be understated.

Too often we see farmers walk away from their land when the pressure becomes too much.

Help, rather than hefty fines, is what’s needed.