April 16, 2015
Grain growers across the country are out in their paddocks counting mice, part of Australia’s first-ever mouse census.
Growers have begun recording mouse activity on their properties as part of Mouse Census Week which aims to provide farmers, the grains industry and researchers with an unprecedented bank of data about mouse activity in agricultural areas.
The census, initiated by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre with the support of the Grains Research and Development Corporation is occurring before and during seeding of winter crops, a critical time for locating mouse “hot spots” and determining whether numbers are at levels that could pose a risk to newly-sown crops.
Farmers and advisers have been encouraged to play a role in the census from April 13-19 by recording mouse activity via “MouseAlert”.
This is a website and recently released app aimed at improving early warning of possible plagues to enable a rapid response to increases in mouse activity.
CSIRO research officer Steve Henry said it was important that mouse activity was assessed across all grain-growing areas to identify the likelihood of large scale mouse problems in approaching growing seasons.
“This first census will identify where potential problem areas are, on the eve of the 2015 cropping season,” Mr Henry said.
“We want to obtain as much information as we can. If we can establish a good dataset it will also help us to develop better plague prediction models.”
- For more information about the census – and how to get the app – visit the MouseAlert website
