Victorian and NSW farmers fear mice plagues could be imminent

Farmers on the NSW-Victorian border fear the mice plague, which wreaked havoc earlier this year, could return sooner than expected.

Farmers on the NSW-Victorian border fear the mice plague, which wreaked havoc during the winter months, could return in summer.

While populations are under control for the moment, farmers in Victoria say they mice are reproducing and the situation could rapidly change.

CSIRO mouse expert Steve Henry said there had been a high number of reports of farmers baiting including north of Bendigo.

“A lot of farmers are baiting to protect their high-end crops,” Mr Henry said.

“Our concern is that as the spring progresses the mice population could increase and that’s why it is important to bait early.

“A good season in the coming months could create ideal breeding conditions for the mice.

“We’ve found a higher number than normal survived throughout the winter.”

Mr Henry said recent rainfall didn’t necessarily mean the population would be wiped out.

He said mice were able to get out of “adverse conditions”.

“At Easter time this year, we had a large amount of rainfall in parts of NSW and some farmers thought it would wipe out or significantly diminish the population but that wasn’t the case,” Mr Henry said.

Bunnaloo farmer Lachlan Vagg, who lives about 15 minutes from the border, said he was concerned about the challenges he might face in coming months.

“The mice population would usually die off in winter but there is still some around,” he said.

“We only recently had to put some more bait down to try and reduce the possibility of having our crops destroyed.

“The biggest frustration for us is just how much it had an impact on our income.”

Mr Vagg said he used bait recently when he and other farmers harvested canola.

“The mice had been nipping at the top which was frustrating,” he said.

“Our biggest challenge was when we were sewing the paddocks because they did quite a lot of damage.”

Mr Vagg said it forced farmers to sell hay bales at a much cheaper price.

“When the price is so low we would usually retain those bales for our own use,” Mr Vagg said.

“We have been selling it for about $100 a ton when the average price sits about $200 at this time of year. The last few months have been challenging for lots of farmers.”

Crops across Victoria are continuing to grow well across the state given the recent rainfall.

But some sown later in northwest Victoria are showing signs of stress while others in southwest Victoria are suffering from too much rain.

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