Growers anticipate imminent approval for emergency ZP-50 permit to combat destructive mouse plague

Grain Producers Australia is confident of an imminent approval for an emergency ZP-50 mouse bait permit as Mid West growers combat waves of mice wreacking havoc on paddocks.

The expected approval comes amid continued calls from Mid West farmers and suppliers who were pleading for the bait to be approved before the destructive plague took hold chewing through crops.

Many have been left out of pocket in their efforts to combat the rodents at a crucial time in the cropping season, limited to the weaker ZP-25 rodent bait.

GPA research, development and extension spokesman Andrew Weidemann said industry and government had undertaken significant collaboration recently to progress the bait application and associated stewardship requirements.

“We’ve done a lot of work between the team at GRDC (Grains Research and Development Corporation), APVMA (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority), the CSIRO and ourselves in the background to have accelerated something that would normally have taken six or seven weeks to go through,” he said.

“We’re hopeful we’ll be back talking later this week about the emergency permit, but we still have to wait for that final regulatory decision.”

GPA submitted the emergency application on April 25 in response to the escalating reports of mouse activity in WA and South Australia.

Residents in the Shire of Morawa now have free mouse baits available for residential collection — a move welcomed by the community.

It is estimated the widespread plague threatens $1 billion in damage to WA’s crops.

CSIRO researcher Steve Henry previously said conditions for mouse breeding were ripe for this time of year — a combination of rain left over after ex-tropical cyclone Narelle and a bumper 27 million-tonne harvest last year has provided optimal conditions for a rodent plague.

Record canola planting and yields were also believed to have contributed to the mice population, with pod shatter harvested last year leaving seed on the ground.