As harvest draws closer farmers will be starting to prepare their machinery in order to collect in their crops, store, process, and then move on produce that will eventually end up on the shelves of your local stores/supermarkets.
Unfortunately due to the warmer weather, this is also the time of year that brings rats and mice outdoors. We are all well aware of the effects rats and mice can have on our homes or small urban businesses- but what effect do they have on the farming industry?
First let’s consider a rodent’s diet, rats and mice are omnivorous animals. This means that, like us, they eat almost anything edible- fruits, meat, vegetables, and grains. Bad luck for farmers as most of their produce will attract the rodents to their property.
All throughout the year mice and rats will feed on crops growing in the fields. If the rodents are present in larger volumes then this may have a profound effect on the yields farmers bring in leading to a drop in sales and therefore profit. According to this article grain farmers in Australia have reported up to 30% losses in maturing crops due to mice and rats.
If rodents were to gain access to food stores on a farm then this could spoil an enormous amount of produce leading to farmers losing a lot of profit. (Potentially thousands!) This can severely damage the farm as a business, and wastes all the effort of the workers have gone through rearing the animals or crops.
Having mice or rats present on your farm property can also cost you money in other ways. Rodents have long, powerful incisor teeth that enable them to chew through materials as hard as stone and concrete! They can cause a huge amount of damage to properties and machinery. They can even cause fires by chewing through live wires in buildings.
At APC Management we offer pest control services to Agricultural businesses as well as commercial and industrial businesses, and private properties. If you have a rodent issue then you can view the services available to you or contact us now by clicking the buttons below.
