Diagnosing mouse damage in narrow-leafed lupins
Mice are seasonal pests that can affect any crop. Usually they favour paddocks with high stubble retention.
What to look for
- Bare patches and chewed plants radiating out from mouse burrows.
- Plants with chewed stems and pods in spring with mouse holes nearby.
Paddock
- Poor germination, chewed plants.
- Stems gnawed from stem extension.
- Pods lopped and chewed along one side and seed eaten
Plant
What else could it be
| Condition | Similarities | Differences |
|---|---|---|
|
Birds
|
Birds also chew plants and pods near maturity, | Damage is worst near the paddock edge rather than near mouse burrows. |
Management strategies
Green bridge control
- Use in-crop baiting when damage occurs.
Use the following hygiene recommendations to minimise breeding:
- Minimise spilled grain or harvester grain loss in paddocks.
- Heavy grazing can help clean up high harvest grain losses, but sufficient ground cover should be left to minimise erosion potential.
- Clean up any concentrated spills of grain around field bins, augers and other grain storage.
- Remove or reduce cover, including plant material, rubbish and general clutter around buildings, silos and fodder storage.
Paddock operations to reduce damage include;
- Control weeds and volunteers along fence lines, crop margins and channel banks in autumn and before seed-set to minimise sources of food and shelter.
- Sow as evenly and as early as possible for each crop, to achieve rapid establishment of strong plants. Avoid dry sowing in high risk paddocks.
- Slightly increase seeding rates and sow as deeply as possible for each crop if mouse numbers are elevated at seeding.
- Cross harrow or roll after sowing to ensure good seed coverage and the removal of sowing lines.
Where to go for expert help
Page last updated: Thursday, 5 February 2015 - 3:08pm