Growers urged to check crops for mice damage

Growers on the Liverpool Plains and Gunnedah area are being urged to check crops for mouse activity as populations have reached potentially damaging levels in a number of crops.

Bill Manning, senior land services officer with the Northwest Local Land Services said that the monitoring they have done in local canola crops shows a highly variable number in the mouse population.

“We are urging growers to check for damage to young pods on canola and signs of chewing on vegetative plant parts and growing points in cereals, active mice holes and trails should also be noted,” he said.

Mr Manning is encouraging growers to also monitor mice activity with chew cards. Printable chew cards are available on the Grains Research and Development (GRDC) website. The chew cards need to be soaked in canola oil and left in crops overnight to check for levels of mouse activity. Full instructions are available on the GRDC website.

“Growers should also take account of differences in population between the edge of crops and the centre of paddocks and baiting should only occur when monitoring indicates mouse populations justify treatment as there is potential for off target damage.”