Return of the rodents: Australia’s farmers on high alert for another mouse plague

Australian farmers are on high alert for a second coming of the mouse plague that ravaged north-west New South Wales and southern Queensland last year.

Images of homes and crops overrun with record numbers of mice shocked Australians, and farmers are still recovering from the impact of losing millions of dollars’ worth of crops.

[...]

Last year, the NSW government introduced a rebate for the pesticide zinc phosphide bait as part if a $150m package to deal with out-of-control rodent numbers.

Henry urges farmers to get out and walk through their crops. “One of the key times farmers can deal with mice is as they sow their crop – it’s a good, strategic time to apply bait.”

[....]

NSW Farmers’ [vice president, Xavier] Martin says the state needs to remain “on alert” after the destruction of last season and monitor the infestation before food crops are spoiled.

[...]

“We know in the last plague what seemed to be low numbers exploded without a lot of warning into the springtime … It’s far easier to deal with these rodents proactively than to try and react once we have huge populations,” he says.

In Western Australia’s wheat belt, [Dylan] Hirsch is trying to be proactive to avoid a repeat of devastating scenes from NSW last year.

“We, like many farmers, are spreading mouse bait in our canola paddocks, which can be particularly prone to damage,” he says.

[...]