THE ongoing problem mouse problem through Victoria and South Australia has left farmers scrambling to get sufficient bait to control the rodents.
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Farmers in hot spots such as the the Wimmera Plains, along with the Yorke Peninsula and lower Mid North in South Australia, are reporting difficulties in sourcing bait.
Andrew Weidemann, chairman of Grain Producers Australia, said there had been a shortage of the active ingredient in rodenticides, zinc phosphide, in Australia which has slowed production at baiting stations in South Australia.
“We had to wait for the active to arrive. It will move up to the stations but there will be backlog to clear.”
Linton Staples, managing director of Animal Control Technologies, which produces the registered mouse control product Mouse Off, said farmers seeking his company’s Mouse Off Econo Bait, which uses unsterilised grain, would currently have a wait of two or three days.
Delays are longer to get hold of Mouse Off proper, due to difficulty sourcing sterilised grain.
“We have a stockpile of the active ingredient but we don’t have the sterilised grain, we are in the process of preparing more, but we anticipate a wait time of two or three weeks for Mouse Off,” Prof Staples said.
He said the demand for bait had caught the industry by surprise.
“Compared to 2011 which was a once in a generation event, we viewed this year more of a skirmish, with some hot spots but plenty of unaffected areas.
“However, the demand exceeds what you would expect given the relatively small areas where mice are causing damage.
“I was up in Horsham, which has emerged as one of the major hot spots just three weeks ago and farmers were fairly confident of managing the problem, but demand has gone through the roof since then, we’ve had a flood of orders.”
Prof Staples said ACT was capable of producing 180 tonnes of bait a week, enough to treat 180,000 hectares.
Mr Weidemann said growers had baited primarily to protect emerging canola crops.
He said in general one application would be enough leading into winter, but said farmers in areas with high mouse loads might bait more than once.
Last week’s good rainfall and the prospect of cold winter conditions would combine to slow the build-up of mouse numbers, he said.
“We would expect activity to slow up a bit in coming weeks, there are reports coming in that the mice are starting to cannibalize each other which is often a sign we have reached peak density,” he said.
Prof Staples said growers needed to remain vigilant.
“Inspections are very important. Often the damage can be done before farmers notice it,” he said.
Following canola emergence, he said the next growing stage where growers needed to be on high alert was when wheat started tillering.
“Mice can cause damage to wheat plants at tillering, so farmers need to ensure numbers are in check around that time,” he said.
He said crops could incur up to a 10 per cent yield penalty from mouse damage before it was visual.
“Baiting for mice is economic at projected 2pc yield damage, so if you think you have a problem it is worth doing it,” he said.