Rodents are on the march and they’re getting bigger...

RATS are on the move out of fields earlier this year, and farmers have been urged to take action to prevent them compromising feed stores and infesting farm buildings.

The advice comes as Rentokil report a 21pc rise in call-outs for rat infestations in both urban and rural areas in the nine months to the end of September compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

The increased Rentokil callout rates tally with anecdotal evidence from farmers around the country.

One Co Wexford farmer who contacted the Farming Independent maintained that he had never seen the rat infestation problem as bad at this time of the year.

Rat numbers are believed to be well up this autumn due to the warm summer, while the recent move from the fields has been attributed to the early harvest.

The Wexford farmer, who did not wish to be named, maintained that the fact that crops were harvested and land tilled again a lot earlier than usual appeared to have forced rat populations into farmyards in search of food.

Joe Lynch of BASF said it was vital that farmers checked their baits now before the rodents’ migration from the land into farm buildings and food stores moves up a gear.

“Farmers in the beef, dairy and poultry sectors should be checking the rodent baits and making sure their rodent control programmes are fit for purpose,” Mr Lynch said.

“It is pretty clear that there has been an increase in the rodent population this year and farmers should make sure that their rat infestation programmes are up to the task. They should keep an eye on their food stores and sheds particularly.”

An interesting phenomenon observed in Dublin was the remarkable size of the rodents discovered during the digging of the new LUAS lines in the city.

“They were unusually big,” said Lynch.