The previous South Island management plan for Canada geese has lapsed and Fish and Game Otago chief executive Niall Watson said a new plan was needed that reflected the reality that geese were game birds that adversely affected a small number of properties.
Farmers may disagree with Mr Watson's view that the cheapest form of control is by hunters, but he said he believed if culls were requested, then the cost should not rest solely with Fish and Game but be shared with farmers.
The goose issue has reared its head again, with Federated Farmers pest management spokesman Don Aubrey accusing Fish and Game of not keeping bird numbers under control, resulting in polluted waterways and pasture.
"Farmers are sick and tired of hearing Fish and Game New Zealand's excuses for failing to meet its statutory obligation to control the birds' population," he said.
He said the lack of action was a ploy by the hunting lobby to spread the game bird throughout New Zealand.
Fish and Game says the South Island goose population has been stable for the past 17 years at about 32,000 birds, give or take 10%, and that hunters kill 14,000 birds a year and Fish and Game culls take out another 8000.
Mr Aubrey said the 1995 South Island management plan agreed to a maximum of 20,350 birds, and he said the burgeoning population would start to affect other sectors, such as aviation.
He wanted Fish and Game to commit to reducing numbers to the agreed level.
Federated Farmers has asked the Minister of Conservation to class the bird as a pest, something he said the British wildlife advice body, Nature England, did recently.
From January 1, farmers in the United Kingdom would be free to shoot, trap or net them.
Mr Watson said farmers were accentuating the goose problem by improving pasture, which extended their range and created a more favourable habitat.
"That's a point I think people need to acknowledge," he said.
A new plan was needed, Mr Watson said, but the Minister of Conservation needed to complete his review of the wildlife schedules, which defined the level of protection.
Federated Farmers wanted Canada geese to lose their game-bird status but Mr Watson said the birds could be managed through co-operation between landholders, Fish and Game and hunters.
However, the costs would need to be shared.
"Costs can't all be landed on [hunting] licence-holders," he said.
He was also keen to develop a new South Island management plan for geese which linked farmers, hunters and Fish and Game, but he said it needed to be pragmatic to work.
Central South Island Fish and Game chief executive Jay Graybill said between 2000 and 2007, on average 13 complaints a year were received about geese in his region.
Twelve farmers in total reported geese problems more than twice.
A spokeswoman for Conservation Minister Tim Groser said a review of wildlife schedules was still under consideration.