FARMERS and advisers in Australia's grain-growing regions are being asked to get involved in the nation's first-ever "mouse census" by assessing mouse activity on their farms.
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Mouse Census Week will be conducted from next Monday — April 13 — and continue until the Sunday.
Its aim is to provide farmers, the grains industry and researchers with an unprecedented bank of data about mouse activity in agricultural areas.
The census was initiated by the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre with the support of the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
Farmers and advisers are encouraged to play a role in the census by recording mouse activity via MouseAlert - a website and recently released app aimed at improving early warning of possible plagues and rapid response to increases in mouse activity.
CSIRO research officer Steve Henry said it was important that mouse activity was assessed across all grain-growing areas to identify the likelihood of large-scale mouse problems in approaching growing seasons.
"This first census will identify where potential problem areas are, on the eve of the 2015 cropping season," he said.
"It will also be a valuable baseline to which we can refer when monitoring mouse activity at other critical times of the year."
Further details are available at www.grdc.com.au/media-news
