Mouse Bait Stewardship | Grain Producers AU

Mouse bait stewardship and reporting

Background

Increased mouse activity in recent years has resulted in growers needing to increase their use of crop protection products to help manage and control mice numbers on-farm, to guard against economic losses.

During the height of the mouse plague in May 2021, a new industry permit was issued to Grain Producers Australia by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (PER90799), allowing growers access to ZP50 mouse bait.

This new mouse control option resulted from a research collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The collaboration also included input from growers, including GPA representatives, through the National Mouse Management Group.

A number of farm chemical manufacturing companies were also included on the GPA permit, enabling ZP50 product to be legally manufactured and sold to growers.

With this permit due to expire in October 2022, GPA applied for an extension to ensure growers could continue accessing this mouse control option, as needed, to protect their crops.

As part of approving a permit extension, the APVMA requested new requirements for permit holders to provide them with evidence of users complying with permit conditions.

In response to the APVMA’s requests, GPA has now implemented a new stewardship training course and reporting processes, in GPA Training, allowing a one-year extension (for 2023) of the permit.

GPA has applied for a second one-year extension of the permit.

Next steps

Growers and applicators will need to complete the stewardship training and reporting in order to purchase and maintain their access to ZP50 products.

For more information, read the FAQs below, or log in to GPA Training and follow the prompts to access the training.

Read the Media Release

APVMA Permit PER90799

Frequently asked questions

Who needs to do this training and reporting?

Anyone using ZP50 products that are sold and supplied under APVMA Permit PER90799 from 1 January 2023, will need to complete this training course and meet the ongoing product-use reporting requirements.

Why is this being introduced?

This new training and reporting responds to the APVMA’s concerns about user compliance with conditions on the current permit (PER90799) that’s been in place since May 2021.

These concerns centre around monitoring both mouse numbers and non-target safety, as well as timing of application. This new training and reporting will provide the APVMA with evidence of user knowledge and compliance, as part of approving a one-year extension of the existing permit, from 1 January 2023.

This training and reporting has been designed in collaboration with the APVMA, growers, product suppliers and other experts, to ensure it achieves the desired outcomes and is not onerous for growers and applicators. These new processes will help not only satisfy the APVMA’s concerns, they will also improve grower and user practices to support industry productivity and sustainability outcomes.

What is the training?

This new online stewardship course in GPA Training is a combination of videos, text and links to access further reading material. It also includes short quizzes to test understanding of the course content, as you progress through each unit.

This course has been designed in collaboration with growers, suppliers and industry experts, to ensure it achieves the desired outcomes and is not onerous for growers and applicators.

The course is delivered online in these six units:

Introduction
Expert overview
Using mouse bait
Storage and disposal
Safety considerations
Usage records

Why do I need to do this training?

A certificate will be provided after completion of this training course, which can then be used to allow the purchase of products, supplied under APVMA Permit PER90799.

Retailers are required to ensure product users are familiar with the permit requirements.

Which products does this apply to?

Supplier products listed on APVMA Permit PER90799 are:

Mouseoff 50 Zinc Phosphide Bait
Surefire 50 Zinc Phosphide Mouse Bait
Last Supper Supreme 50 Zinc Phosphide Mouse Bait
Last Supper Supreme 50 Zinc Phosphide Mouse Bait Pellets
4Farmers Zinc Phosphide Unsterilized Mouse Bait
4Farmers Zinc Phosphide Pellet
Pestmaster Zinc Phosphide Mouse Killer Pellets
Mice Terminator 50
Final Feast 50 Mouse Bait
Surefire 50 Zinc Phosphide Mouse Bait Pellets

When should this training be completed?

This training will need to be completed before ZP50 product is purchased.

A certificate showing the training has been completed will allow retailers to sell ZP50 products supplied under APVMA Permit PER90799.

Growers and users will need to consider when their existing stocks need to be replenished, and allow sufficient time to complete the required training and gain the certificate, whilst also becoming familiar with the necessary reporting requirements and processes.

How can this training be done?

The training course can be accessed through the GPA Training online platform and can be completed using a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer with internet access, using a modern browser.

It cannot be guaranteed to run on older browsers, such as Internet Explorer.

How long will it take me to do?

The online course should take about an hour to complete in a single sitting, or you can do one or more lessons at a time when it suits.

The training will save after each lesson is completed so you can come back to it.

Are there any prerequisites for this training?

A prerequisite is holding an ACUP number, ChemCard, AQF3 or other state permit associated with the purchase and application of an S7 product.

How will this benefit me?

The benefits are two-fold.

The training will provide you with a refresher on the most effective ways to use mouse bait, the importance of monitoring and record keeping, how to minimise impacts on non-target animals, and the safe application of bait and disposal of unused bait and empty containers.

The certificate will also allow users to purchase mouse baits containing 50g/kg zinc phosphide supplied under APVMA Permit PER90799 during 2023.

How do I provide the certificate to retailers?

A PDF digital certificate can be downloaded after completing the course. This can be saved onto your smartphone, or a printed copy can be produced.

The certificate will need to be shown to retailers to allow the purchase of mouse baits containing 50g/kg zinc phosphide supplied under APVMA Permit PER90799, from 1 January 2023.

How much will it cost?

The training is being provided to growers and users free of charge.

Costs are being absorbed by GPA as part of our continued commitment to support stewardship training and best-practice application of pesticides.

This forms part of GPA’s strategic aims, working with industry stakeholders, to support initiatives and innovations that help boost grower productivity and sustainability.

This includes strategic objectives on resource management, market access, and product integrity, with a focus on the use of agricultural pesticides, to ‘sustain access to pesticides that are essential farm inputs and demonstrably safe and effective when used appropriately’.

I have mouse bait left over from 2022, can I still use it without doing the training?

The APVMA emergency use permit PER90799 version 4 expired 31 December 2022.

If a user has permitted mouse bait left over from 2022, they were able to use that bait following the conditions in PER90799 (version 4) until 31 December 2022.

If a user wants to use a bait left over from 2022 after 31 December 2022, they will be required to meet the conditions of the new version of PER90799 (version 5). This means the user must follow the conditions below to legally use bait left over from 2022.

Additional conditions for the user from 1 January 2023:

DO NOT apply bait unless pre-baiting monitoring indicates the presence of plague level mouse populations. Monitoring techniques to determine plague level mouse populations include chew cards (>20 squares per card eaten) and active burrow counts (>5 mouse holes/10 m2).
DO NOT apply if non-target animals are found feeding during the pre-baiting period. Treatment areas must be closely monitored for the presence of non-target species before baiting. Non-target species observed to be feeding in the proposed treatment area must be recorded.
The user must maintain the following records:

plague level mouse populations were present in the area to be treated,
treatment areas were monitored for non-target species before baiting,
the date, time and locations of treatments, the total amount of product used, and the names and addresses of the persons undertaking the use,
an estimate of the bait remaining the morning after treatment (e.g. grains/m2),
treated areas were monitored and any adverse effects to non-target species reported.

Users must maintain records of all treatments performed under the permit. These details must be maintained for a minimum period of two years from the date of expiry of this permit, and must be made available to the permit holder and APVMA upon request.

In addition, all mouse bait products carry a condition that the product should be used within three months of opening.

Correctly dispose of old bait and containers, as described in the fourth unit of the training.

What happens to my information?

Information provided in the reporting processes will be shared in aggregate with the APVMA, through confidential processes.

This includes any ACUP number, Chemcert, AQF3 or other state permit associated with the purchase and application of an S7 product, the date of course completion, and application records.

I’d like to improve the effectiveness of bait application on my farm. What other training is available?

There are links to extra resources in the second unit of the course which you can bookmark for later reference.