Farmers across the UK are storing up serious problems for themselves and the industry by failing to maintain sufficiently rigorous rat and mouse controls.
This is amongst the findings of the latest annual study, undertaken by Farmers Guardian with BASF Pest Control Solutions undertaken this winter.
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The National Farm Rodent Control Survey, which has been conducted on the same basis each winter since 2007 has, until now, shown a steady improvement in key elements of farm rodent control practice. However, latest results from around 100 farms spread over more than 40 counties of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland suggest a worrying reversal in this trend in the past 12 months. The extent of this reversal is underlined by the fact that only 22 per cent of farms are currently employing four or more of the six key elements of best baiting practice against the 27 per cent in 2009 and 57 per cent are employing two or fewer elements, compared with 42 per cent in 2008. “Our results show farms with arable and pig and poultry enterprises are clearly being more diligent in their rodent control than grazing livestock producers,” says study co-ordinator, Shirley Wilson of BASF. “But this isn’t because they are experiencing any greater level of threat.” To read the full report in Farmers Guardian click here. |
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