Western Australia mouse plague deepens pressure on grain growers and rural towns
A severe mouse plague in Western Australia is hitting grain-growing districts north-east of Perth, raising crop protection costs and intensifying pressure on rural communities.
A severe mouse plague in Western Australia is hitting districts north-east of Perth and has clearly become more than a household nuisance. ABC reports that the farming town of Morawa is among the worst affected areas, with residents describing roads covered in mice and local officials talking about thousands of rodents. For agriculture, that translates into a direct threat to seeded paddocks, grain-handling areas, farm buildings and the day-to-day operation of grain-growing businesses.
Morawa shire president Karen Chappel said mice have infiltrated homes and businesses, with residents even finding them in beds and cupboards. She said the outbreak is affecting not only Morawa but also other local government areas including Northampton, Mullewa, Chapman Valley, Mingenew and Perenjori. Farmers and local communities argue that existing control methods are no longer matching the scale of the infestation and are failing to stop the pest from spreading.
The immediate operational issue is access to stronger bait. Growers are seeking approval from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to use 50-gram zinc phosphide baits instead of the current 25-gram products. Western Australia Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said the lower-grade baits are not effective enough. Yet the emergency application has already been pending for more than two weeks, even though growers lodged it in late April.
That delay carries a real farm cost. Jarvis said some growers have already gone through seeding using the weaker bait and may now have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on reseeding and reapplying stronger control products. The problem is landing at the same time as a fuel crisis, adding further pressure to operating costs. For grain producers, the outbreak is therefore not just a pest issue but a margin issue as well.
The political pressure is rising too. Local MP Shane Love said the scale of the outbreak was unlike anything seen in Western Australia for many years and warned that some people are leaving town because they cannot tolerate the conditions. The report also recalls Australia’s 1993 mouse plague, which caused an estimated A$96 million in damage, and the 2021 outbreak that hit homes, towns and farms in New South Wales and Queensland. The current Western Australian episode shows how rodent control can quickly become a farm resilience and regional economy issue, not just a sanitation problem.