On the Oxley farm in New South Wales, there are kangaroos as far as the eye can see.

"If you mentioned a figure it would send shivers down people's spines, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had 20,000 roos on the place," said Phil Woodward, the farm manager.

All those 'roos' have to eat. But it isn't easy to find food. Some parts of Australia haven't had rain in two years. The kangaroos are competing with livestock for whatever food there is to eat.

Many farmers say it's time for a massive cull.

"I think if two-thirds of the kangaroos were off this property and one-third was left here it would be equitable," said Woodward.

The farmers have the support of some top Australian scientists. Mike Archer, the director of the Australian museum, says keeping the kangaroo population down will help preserve the species.

"It's nuts to leave them suffering ... they should be culled. And they should be culled to the point where the numbers that remain will be able to reproduce when conditions improve. And that's what kangaroos do very well."

Scientists say there could be as many as 60 million kangaroos in the country. The government is already paying professional hunters to shoot almost seven million this year.

But farmers say that isn't nearly enough. They'd like to be able to kill and sell the kangaroo meat and skins themselves. It would allow them to make some money during the drought.

Animal rights organizations say far too many are killed already. "What we have here is the biggest wildlife slaughter of land based animals in the world. So here we have a First World, industrial nation which is not appreciating the heritage we have. It's something we should be conserving for all humanity, not just Australia," said Halina Thompson of the World League for the Protection of Animals.

But scientists say even killing millions of kangaroos won't make much of a dent in the population. Farmers say it's the Australian agriculture industry that will pay the price.