Why do we keep killing crows? Farmers’ attachment to a controversial method in an attempt to protect their crops

Abstract

Corvids are responsible for important damage to spring crops across western Switzerland and have become a significant concern for the farming community. Various prevention methods have been tested to reduce agricultural losses, but no suitable solution has been found. In an attempt to solve this problem, the Swiss farming community is asking the authorities, despite its relative unpopularity, to liberalize control shooting. However, the effectiveness of this control method has never been scientifically proven, and the few studies in ecology or conservation biology that question its efficiency are not considered by the farming community. This raises the question of why the attachment to an uncertain and controversial method is so strong. By bringing out the farming community's dominant representation of the problem of corvid damage and analyzing the stakeholder network dynamics, this article aims to highlight the social logics and multifactorial dimension of choosing a control method. We found that the fight against corvid damage is part of a more general conflict that pits the farming community against the rest of society on issues of ecology and production. Various social, cultural and cognitive logics lead the farming community to remain attached to control shooting, making a cognitive gamble that has no solid scientific basis. To succeed in getting farmers to abandon control shooting, three conditions must be met: the emergence of a replacement innovation, awareness of the negative practical, economic and ethical aspects of control shooting, and improved access to scientific knowledge on the subject in the farming world.