FARMERS waiting on mouse bait have hospitals to thank for delays.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Animal Control Technologies Australia sales and marketing manager Phil Morrow - from the company that manufactures MouseOff - says there are bottlenecks where grain is being sterilised to meet biosecurity standards prior to mixing.
He says there are only three plants in Australia where the sanitising process can be performed and that capacity is being shared with the medical profession for the sterilisation of surgical equipment.
"It's a bit of a conundrum and this is delaying us from providing a liberal level of supply," Mr Morrow said.
"Demand is probably six times greater than any previous mouse plague Australia has encountered in the past 15 years.
"It's a finite capacity that we're operating in ... but our own factory is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week where we can, and the only reason we stop is when we've made everything we can for the day."
Mr Morrow said the company has committed to flying MouseOff's active ingredient - zinc phosphide - into the country to meet demand. It was also exploring options outside of sterilising grain.
"But, at this point of time, nothing has been agreed to or supported by the pesticide regulatory authority or state governments," he said.
"One of the issues we need to be aware of, however, is this is not just a here-and-now event. The mice are very likely to survive through winter, unless there is a consort of events causing their decimation.
"When cereal crops begin to tiller, and canola and other broadleaf crops start to pod, the mice will really start to do some damage and farmers won't be able to replant then."
Another zinc phosphide product is set to reach Australian shores soon in the form of a pellet bait from Bells Laboratories, in theUnited States, registered for use in Australia by the APVMA.
The first shipment is due at the end of this month although it is not clear how much will be available.
Farmers are also waiting on the outcome of multiple applications made by Western Australia's agricultural chemical distributors, 4Farmers, which has applied to distribute zinc phosphide as a base ingredient to farmers to mix with grain on-farm.
This would boost bait supplies and cut costs for - many of whom are in their third year of significant mouse baiting programs.
A spokesperson for the Federal Government Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, however, had previously said that occupational health and safety issues meant it would be between five and nine months before the product could be registered, and it was unlikely to be given Emergency Use Permits because registered products were already available.
He also said the APVMA would have less concerns over on-farm mixing if states or grower groups could develop regional bait mixing stations to reduce risks to individual operators.
But in NSW, farmers have been given a second option with the use of bromadiolone for the control of mice on crop perimeters.
The State's Livestock Health and Pest Authority has been granted a minor use permit from the APVMA to mix the liquid with grain supplied by landholders and have so far treated more than 100 tonnes of grain.
*Full report in Stock Journal, May 26 issue, 2011.
