Unfortunately, conditions that are good for our soil and good for our crops are also great for mice. These pests can wreak havoc in the paddock. As summer approaches mice will be scurrying back onto your farm. How will you protect your investment this season?
Tara Rural Supplies and Condamine Seeds and Tyres have a variety of effective ways to help you fight against this looming threat.
DAFF has put give a few steps to manage pests.
The current conditions are good for crops and favourable for mice. Farmers need to act now to minimize damage to crops, equipment, and homes.
Measure mouse activity: From taking note of damage around buildings and crops to counting burrows, monitoring mouse activity is the first step in guarding against the pests. A mouse Chew-Card is a great resource for monitoring and checking the severity of your mouse problem. Follow this link for a template and to find out more. Know your mouse numbers - GRDC
Baiting. Make sure you know your options when it comes to bait. Baiting mice can be an effective way to keep mice away from your valuable crops. Baits will attract mice and kill them upon ingestion. It’s important to find a bait that reacts on the first ingestion. Zinc Phosphide based bates such as Mouseoff® and Surefire® are very effective in protecting against mice.
Do your research and follow the label. When baiting it’s important to know the product you are using. These are often potent products which, while deadly for mice, can also cause harm to your pets, poultry, and livestock and they can even cause harm to people. Apart from reducing the risk of harm, doing your research and following the label means that you will get the most out of the product. Knowing how, where, and when to use it and the best practices will ensure the best possible outcome and reduces the risk of bait aversion and harm to other animals.
Remove other food sources. You want mice to have only one option for feed…the bait. For the bait to be most effective it is important that it not compete with other food sources. It is important to remove rubbish, pet food, etc from the area to keep the mice focused on the bait.
Work with your neighbours. If you are dealing with mice, most likely your neighbours are too. A co-ordinated effort will be the most effective effort in controlling mice and will have the widest impact and greatest benefit.
Continue to Monitor. Keep monitoring the effectiveness of baiting as your crop matures. Using the Chew card or observing damage or breeding can keep you aware of any new outbreaks or locations where you may need to focus your attention.
Be Safe. Wear protective gear when handling baits. In addition to handling the bait itself dead mice can still carry the toxins and poison. So it’s important to follow any and all safety protections when handling both the bait and the mice as well as containers and equipment.
Report. This is another point at which talking to your neighbours is important. Make sure you report and even map the locations of outbreaks on mice. There is a great app to help the community and primary producers track the movement of mice you can access the Mousealert app at this link. MouseAlert > Home (feralscan.org.au)
Give us a call or visit us in store at Tara (07) 4665 3366 or Condamine (07) 4627 7222 or email info@tararuralsupplies.com.au.
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