Toowoomba farmer, John Cameron, says that sorghum farmers in New South Wales and Queensland are having their harvests contaminated by mouse droppings.
Mouse faeces is left by mice that crawl up to eat the unripened grain, and is inadvertently collected during harvest. Farmers have trialled methods of sifting out the droppings with little success.
Even the tiniest contamination renders the product unsellable, given stringent regulations imposed by Graincorp, the main grain handler of Australia’s East Coast.
Graincorp’s northern supply chain manager, Josh Connell, says this is to protect Australia’s integrity on the international sorghum market.