Managing Mice in Pastures to Protect your Crops in Spring

Local Land Services (LLS) have put together a plan for managing mice in pastures that will be vital to reducing mouse numbers in Spring. LLS recommends that mice can be managed through grazing management.

LLS report that numbers have significantly decreased over winter 2021. There is reduced activity in cropping paddocks because mice stop breeding in winter, and they may have been baited, burrows disturbed, or their feed source reduced. Mice can still be found in pasture country where they have ample feed and habitat. High feed and habitat availability could increase mouse numbers as it warms up in spring. Mice could then move into our cropping paddocks. They can manage both food and habitat in our pastures to some extent, but there is a need to make sure there is no negative effect on land and livestock conditions.