Mouse pressure hits northern NSW and Queensland crops

Farmers in northern cropping zones have reported mouse damage to newly-sown winter crops, prompting calls for stronger bait.

Farmers in northern NSW and Queensland say newly sown winter crops are being hammered by mice.

The good season in the area last year meant there were some heavy residual stubbles and mouse numbers had built up.

Grain Producers Australia’s northern region director, Brendan Taylor, farms at Warra north west of Dalby, Queensland, and said the pesticide ZP50 would be more effective at controlling mice than the current ones available.

Currently, farmers have access to ZP25, which is not as strong, and they had previously urged the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to consider giving access to ZP50.

“We are at the start of sowing and have been going for a few weeks in southern Queensland and have been planting into good moisture,” he said.

“There are some late summer crops that are getting a proper hammering from mice, and you can see them on roads at night, and they are also getting into sheds. Generally, there are plenty of mice about,” he said.

Farmers urged to be on the lookout for mouse activity: ANDREW LEESON

The APVMA previously authorised the use of unregistered products containing 50g/kg (ZP50) to address mouse plague situations under an emergency use permit in 2021.

An APVMA spokesperson said the emergency use permit, PER90799, expired in December 2023. 

“As a regulator, the APVMA does not make recommendations on which products to use. However, the APVMA can confirm that there are several currently registered products containing 25g/kg (of) zinc phosphide (ZP25) which are approved for the control of mice in various situations,” the spokesperson said.

“There are currently no applications for a ZP50 product to be registered for use in Australia.”

CSIRO’s team leader for rodent management, Peter Brown, said the main aim was to try to protect crops at seeding.

“You don’t want to go to the effort of sowing and then find that mice have caused damage,” Dr Brown said.

“Our monitoring suggests that in southern NSW, activity is reasonably quiet from the three routine inspections we do a year,” he said.

However, around Coleambally in southern NSW, there were some incidences of higher mouse activity.