Climate variability drives livestock farmers to modify their use of collective summer mountain pastures

Cyrille Rigolot (1) , Samuel Roturier (2, 1) , Benoit Dedieu (3) , Stéphane Ingrand (1)

1 UMR METAFORT - Mutations des activités des espaces et des formes d'organisation dans les territoires ruraux
2 ESE - Ecologie Systématique et Evolution
3 DEPT SAD - Département Sciences pour l'Action et le Développement

It is essential for grass livestock farming to cope with climate variability and, particularly, drought. A potential solution is to use collective mountain pastures, which are colder and wetter, in the summer. However, there is little knowledge on such collective pasture management. Therefore, we surveyed three collective sheep summer mountain pastures and three small and one large cattle summer mountain pastures in 2012 in the Auvergne region, France. Farmers using and managing the pastures were interviewed. We also analysed regional statistics, an economic report and a shepherd journal. Our results show that drought has incited farmers to use collective pastures. Beginning and ending dates of the summer grazing season and animal transfers have been modified by collective decisions and individual farmer strategies. We conclude that collective summer mountain pastures is a unique source of flexibility for livestock farming.

Mots clés: Livestock farming system; Flexibility; Climate variability; Farmer strategy

Mots clés: Summer mountain pasture; Collective management; Pasture

Domaines: Zootechnie

Cyrille Rigolot, Samuel Roturier, Benoit Dedieu, Stéphane Ingrand. Climate variability drives livestock farmers to modify their use of collective summer mountain pastures. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2014, 34 (4), pp.899 - 907. ⟨10.1007/s13593-014-0224-7⟩. ⟨hal-01615356⟩