PRICING is emerging as one of the key issues in the current debate about mouse bait.
The temporary stations are able to produce bait, using unsterilised grain, that is far cheaper than MouseOff, the permanently registered mouse control product.
However, managing director of Animal Control Technologies (ACT) Linton Staples is adamant the product is not priced too high.
He said simply adding the cost of the grain and the chemical together was not an accurate means of calculating the price of bait.
“There are a lot of other costs involved, such as maintaining a stockpile of bait in the many years there isn’t a mouse problem, sterilisation of the grain, freighting the bait and the quality assurance and safety programs we must adhere to.”
He said 4Farmers, the company involved in the temporary baiting stations, had only recently become involved in the mouse bait sector and did not have the cost of carrying the product, which was one of the reasons it was cheaper, along with the fact there was not a retail margin involved in the price.
“We carry large amounts of stock over from year to year, just in case of a big plague, and there is a cost of carry with this – resellers don’t like to have inventory sitting in the shed, so we have to do it.”
However, Neil Luehman, of the Berriwillock Grain Co-Op, which is working with 4Farmers on a temporary baiting station in Victoria’s Mallee, dismissed Prof Staples’ claims, saying that even allowing for the hidden costs, the retail price had been too high.
“That’s part of the reason they think there is no demand for mouse bait, as farmers are looking for alternatives for MouseOff, as it is so expensive.
“There are some very big margins there for ACT and for the retailers – mouse bait is big business this year.”
“It’s important we have this baiting station up here so we can have immediate access to bait when we need it.”
VFF grains group president Andrew Weidemann agreed, saying Prof Staples’ assertion there was adequate bait supply needed to be considered carefully.
“At a field day this week up in the Mallee, there were 33 growers, cropping 44,000ha, who said they would need to bait, and who would prefer to provide grain to the Berriwillock baiting station and have it treated there.”
He said the issue of sterilisation would not be a problem for farmers, providing it was their own seed.
“The major issue there, when you are not dealing with imported grain that may have unsterilised weed seeds in it, is the agronomic impact of having to control volunteer wheat in barley or similar issues, and that is a decision farmers will make on a case by case basis.”
Mr Weidemann urged growers in other areas to be in contact with their resellers about any potential need for bait.
“We need to get a clearer picture of how much bait is going to be required this spring.”
He said resellers were reluctant to keep large stocks of unsold bait, so farmers needed to indicate demand early if they were not to be caught short when it was needed, as happened during the autumn.
In terms of the Berriwillock site, Mr Weidemann said he was confident the site would meet Austalian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) guidelines shortly and would be able to resume production early next week, going until September 30, when the overarching emergency production permit from the APVMA expires.
Beyond that, Mr Weidemann said he was unsure whether the APVMA would grant an extension of the permit.
The APVMA said in a release that it had received an application to extend the emergency permit on September 6 and was currently considering it.
The three major factors in the APVMA’s decision will be:
availability of products in the marketplace, both registered and unregisteredthe likelihood of an ongoing mouse plague across southern Australiaadherence to permit conditions, which stipulate how the site can be operated safely to manage risks to human health. 
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