The impact of water voles on forage systems: a case study of suckler cattle farms in Burgundy

Do vole outbreaks have the same effects on suckler beef farms in Burgundy as they do on daily farms in Auvergne and Franche-Comte? Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 19 farmers from Burgundy who had been affected by a water vole outbreak in 2011. The results indicate that, just like farmers in Auvergne and Franche-Comte, farmers in Burgundy witnessed a decrease in forage quantity and quality. Farmers used diverse measures to deal with the outbreak (e.g., avoidance strategies or the use of bromadiolone). Farmers that described water voles as pests were more likely to have used bromadiolone, while those who described water voles in morphological terms or in terms of their role in agricultural systems were less likely to have used bromadiolone. Farmers in Burgundy do not seem concerned by the possibility of future water vole outbreaks and are unfamiliar with the measures that can be used to control voles between outbreaks.