Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - According to the Farmers' Association, the course of the winter will decide whether a severe infestation of the fields by mice must be expected in Saxony-Anhalt. "A winter with a lot of snow is advantageous for field mice because they are protected from predators and severe frost under the snow cover," said Erik Hecht from the State Farmers' Association of the German Press Agency. On the other hand, a wet winter with recurring severe frosts reduces the mouse population.
The mass reproduction of field mice occurs again and again in Saxony-Anhalt, said Hecht. In the years 2021, 2020 as well as 2016, 2015 and 2012 in particular, field mice caused such great damage that enormous yield losses in arable farming and horticulture had to be recorded. The Magdeburg Börde, the northern and eastern Harz foothills to the Salzland and the south of Saxony-Anhalt are most affected. According to Hecht, an increased to massive infestation of field mice was also recorded in 2022 on the approximately 145,000 hectares of the main crops used in arable farming. In isolated cases, total economic failures have therefore occurred.
