THE CURRENT situation regarding mouse bait and upcountry baiting stations is fast becoming farcical.
With a number of players involved, such as the APVMA, the Department of Health and various commercial businesses, its difficult to tell what is happening, and all the while, mice numbers are building up.
The one indisputable fact of the matter is that mice are again going to present problems for growers, and sooner rather than later.
Next come the murkier areas.
Is there enough bait, or isn’t there?
According to the VFF and farming groups through the Mallee, there isn’t, and baiting stations such as the Berriwillock one currently closed will be needed to meet the demand.
Yet, speak to Animal Control Technologies and they say they have bait in stock, and that it will be more than enough to meet demand.
Obviously ACT are based away from the coalface, but managing director Linton Staples believes the network of retailers the company deals with have their finger on the pulse.
So there is contention from the start – is there a need for the upcountry baiting stations or not.
We’d say yes, even if there is bait piled high at ACT, the distribution network means it can be difficult to get out in a timely manner. We saw the impact of delays earlier in the year, timing is crucial to effective baiting.
Having another option in the Mallee is a good idea, providing, of course, it meets all its regulatory guidelines.
Pricing is another flash point. Farmers have been steaming about this for a long while.
Bait has generally retailed at around $10/kg, yet the cost of the chemical and grain needed to produce the bait is far lower.
Prof Staples rightly points out that the cost is far more than the just these two components, but I think farmers would argue that even allowing for the cost of carry, freight and a rigourous quality assurance scheme, the bait was still too dear.
No-one denies ACT and the retailers the right to make an honest quid, but surely they have to meet the market halfway – it’s the basic premise of competition.
The handling of the mouse issue has been a cock-up from start to finish – fair enough, the sheer scale of the plague caught us all by surprise, but there needs to be farmer, government and industry efforts to ensure we are far better prepared next time.
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