GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM Maui farmer Jerry Simpson, here in a field yesterday, estimates he's lost thousands of dollars from mice eating his corn. State officials are working with residents to control the infestation.

Maui pests bite
farmers in wallet

Growers report losses to corn,
zucchini and green bean crops
due to hungry rodents

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

KULA, Maui >> At least tens of thousands of dollars in crop damage have been caused by rodents on Maui in the last several months.

Farmers say the recent rodent infestation is the worst since the 1970s.

Lower Kula farmer Jerry Simpson estimates he's lost $10,000 to $20,000 from the mice attacking his six to eight acres of sweet corn.

"They strip the cob," he said. "They eat it down to nothing."

Simpson said in his case, the mice have destroyed about 90 percent of his corn crop in the past five months.

He said earlier this year, the mice dug up seeds at his farm after a planting.

Simpson said he thinks the mice population is decreasing in his area and he's thinking of replanting again.

But he believes the mice will be back if there are heavy rains in the winter followed by dry conditions in the summer that force them to search elsewhere for food.

State agricultural official Naomi Landgraf said the hardest hit have been farmers growing zucchini, green beans and tomatoes.

"This year, they've had a much larger extent of damage," she said.

She said a number of farms have reported crop damage from 30 percent to 60 percent.

Landgraf said production has been improving recently because of bait traps killing rodents and also farmers planting more to compensate for larger crop losses.

Kula farmer Richard Watanabe, whose fields are located at a higher elevation, said he's suffered some losses due to the mice but not as much as those farming in low-lying areas.

He said the mice have eaten the flowers off cauliflower and broccoli, which prevent the vegetable heads from maturing.

Watanabe said Kula farmers have been experiencing quite a few problems in recent years from animals.

"If its not the deer, it's the birds, and if it's not the birds, it's the mice," he said.