WITH spring not far away, the CSIRO is asking grain growers to be vigilant following several cases of high mouse activity reported in its latest Mouse Monitoring update.
CSIRO says mouse numbers are generally low, but there are some areas of high activity in southern Queensland (particularly the Darling Downs), and patches of moderate activity in the Adelaide Plains region of South Australia and Wimmera region of Victoria.
Because of patchy activity between paddocks, CSIRO is advising growers to monitor mice numbers across multiple paddocks to gauge mouse numbers and in turn, make informed management decisions.
CSIRO says moderate to high mouse numbers will lead to damage as winter crops mature and management options should be considered before the grain filling phase of crop growth. Low numbers of mice are unlikely to cause significant crop damage.
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Growers should actively monitor mouse activity (mouse chew cards are useful at this time of year, and active burrow counts can be useful if plant biomass is not too high). CSIRO says there is always a chance of isolated patches of higher mouse activity, particularly where a background food source is high.
CSIRO has also reported that new mouse forecast models are being developed and will be run once data is collected from the spring (September) round of mouse monitoring activity. And a new set of forecast maps are being developed. The traditional mouse forecast models will be run once April-October rainfall is available.
The next scheduled monitoring is set for September in all regions.
CSIRO is asking for growers to continue to report mouse abundance on farms (presence and absence) using MouseAlert (www.mousealert.org.au). The MouseAlert App can be downloaded from the iTunes app store or Google play and progress can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) via @MouseAlert.
