Mouse Plague Drives Australia to Allow Potent Bait to Save Crops

Australia issued an emergency permit for the use of a powerful poison to halt a swelling mice infestation across several growing regions, as farmers grapple with the fallout from the Iran war and a looming El Niño.

The permit was granted on Monday and allows for the limited use of the double-strength zinc phosphide bait, according to a statement from the government’s regulator of agricultural chemical products. It followed an application from the country’s main grain industry body in late April that cited extremely high mice numbers in some regions at the onset of crop planting season.