Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) grains group president Russell Amery said there had been no issues with the efficacy of the only registered broadacre mouse control product, Mouse Off, distributed by Animal Control Technologies Australia (ACTA), but he said repeat applications meant it was getting expensive.

“We want to make sure that growers that have access to a product that not only works, but one they can afford to use,” Mr Amery said.

“While it works out at around $10 a hectare plus spreading costs, which may not seem that much, but when there are repeat applications required, it starts to really add up, with some guys spending over $25,000 to control mice.”

Mr Amery said some growers were questioning the cost of the product, which is a wheat treated with zinc phosphide.

A drum of the product, weighing around 120kg is worth between $1200 and $1300, equating to $10,000 a tonne.

“At $200/t cash price, it certainly isn’t a big cost for the wheat,” Mr Amery said.

“We are not having a go at ACTA, it’s a great product that does a good job at targeting the mice and no other animals, but we just want to know where the costs lie,” he said.

ACTA sales and marketing manager Phil Morrow said there were a number of requirements that needed to be met when coming up with a stable bait that targeted a specific species.

“We have to meet some fairly serious occupational health and safety (OH&S) standards, we need to meet legislative requirements and that requires extensive testing, which needs capital.

“The zinc phosphide means the mice die in the ground, without any impacts on the environment or food chain, and we have had really good feed back on how the product is working, so we don’t think it is too dear for an effective solution.”

Mr Morrow said due to the nature of mouse plagues, ACTA also had significant carry costs in stocking the product.

“When considering the pricing of the product, you need to factor in that there is generally only need for mice-baiting programs once every five years.

“That means ACTA stores baits for five years as a service to growers, so when the mouse plague does come, then farmers don’t miss out, its something that needs to be considered in pricing the product.”

Mr Morrow declined to comment on how much the active zinc phosphide component cost, saying it was commercial in confidence.