Pesticide Usage in Scotland: Rodenticides on Grassland & Fodder Farms 2017
This report presents the results of a survey of rodenticide use on grassland and fodder farms in Scotland in 2017.
Appendix 1 - Estimated rodenticide use and supplementary data tables
Table 1 Occurrence of rodenticide use on grassland and fodder farms - 2017
Number of occurrences of each rodenticide formulation and percentage of total occurrences
| Formulation | Number of occurrences | Percentage of total specified occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Brodifacoum | 694 | 4 |
| Bromadiolone | 6,344 | 40 |
| Bromadiolone/difenacoum (1) | 87 | 1 |
| Coumatetralyl (1) | 10 | <1 |
| Difenacoum | 8,348 | 53 |
| Difethialone (1) | 113 | 1 |
| Flocoumafen (1) | 169 | 1 |
| Warfarin (1) | 58 | <1 |
| Unspecified Rodenticide (2) | 1,858 | |
| Total (excluding unspecified use) | 15,812 | |
| Total first generation anticoagulant (3) | 68 | <1 |
| Total second generation anticoagulant (4) | 15,744 | >99 |
(1) Estimates are based on <10 occurrences in the sample and should therefore be treated with caution
(2) Rodenticides are recorded as unspecified when use has been recorded but product information is not available (refer to Appendix 3)
(3) First generation anticoagulant compounds: coumatetralyl, warfarin
(4) Second generation anticoagulant compounds: brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, difethialone, flocoumafen
Table 2 Weight of rodenticides used on grassland and fodder farms - 2017
Weight of rodenticides applied (kg), expressed as formulations (combination of active substances) and products (active substances, bait and other co-formulants)
| Formulation | Formulation weight | Product weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kg | Kg | Percentage of total specified use | |
| Brodifacoum | 0.15 | 3,009 | 2 |
| Bromadiolone | 3.80 | 76,719 | 59 |
| Bromadiolone/Difenacoum (1) | 0.06 | 1,113 | 1 |
| Coumatetralyl (1) | 0.01 | 16 | <1 |
| Difenacoum | 2.38 | 47,602 | 37 |
| Difethialone (1) | 0.02 | 674 | <1 |
| Flocoumafen (1) | 0.03 | 542 | <1 |
| Warfarin (1) | 0.08 | 165 | <1 |
| Total (2) | 6.52 | 129,841 | |
| Total first generation anticoagulant (3) | 0.09 | 182 | <1 |
| Total second generation anticoagulant (4) | 6.43 | 129,659 | >99 |
(1) Estimates are based on <10 occurrences in the sample and should therefore be treated with caution
(2) Not including unspecified rodenticides (refer to Appendix 3)
(3) First generation anticoagulant compounds: coumatetralyl, warfarin
(4) Second generation anticoagulant compounds: brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, difethialone, flocoumafen
Table 3 Farmer and PCP response to training and compliance questions - 2017
Response to questions regarding training and compliance with best practice of rodenticide use provided by farmers and pest control professionals responsible for rodenticide baiting on the surveyed farms
| Question | Percentage yes response | |
|---|---|---|
| Farmer (n=208) (1) | PCPs (n=28) (2) | |
| 1) Have you attended a training course on rodenticide use? (3) | *12 | *100 |
| 2) Are quantity and location of baits recorded? | 90 | 100 |
| 3) Are bait points protected from non-target animals? | 100 | 100 |
| 4) Is bait regularly inspected? | 99 | 100 |
| 5) Is bait removed after targeted baiting periods? | 57 | 68 |
| 6) Are rodent carcasses searched for and removed? (4) | *63 | *96 |
(1) Not all farmers returned compliance data. These farmers represent 97% of the 214 farmers who conducted their own rodenticide baiting during this survey
(2) Not all PCPs returned compliance data. These 28 PCPs represented 74 per cent of the contractors encountered during this survey and collectively conducted baiting on 66 per cent of those farms using a PCP
(3) Training uptake by farmer here refers to all rodenticide use training, this differs from that reported in Table 5 which only records training that is compliant with rodenticide stewardship and allows professional rodenticide products to be purchased
(4) 122 farmers gave a response in relation to carcass disposal method; the most common methods were incineration (48 per cent) and burying (38 per cent). Other methods included landfill, disposal in dung middens, in slurry pits and with fallen stock (8, 4, 1 and 1 per cent respectively). Twenty six PCPs supplied disposal methods, the most common was incineration (58 per cent) followed by burial (23 per cent) and landfill (19 per cent)
* Responses marked with an asterisk are significantly different between famers and PCPs (P<0.001)
Table 4 Farmer response to farm operation questions - 2017
| Question | Percentage yes response | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| All farms (n=578) (1) | Farms using rodenticides (n=374) (1) | Farms not using rodenticides (n=204) (1) | |
| 1) Is your farm a member of a quality assurance scheme | 86 | *93 | *73 |
| 2) Is livestock kept on your farm? | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| 3) Do you have a pig unit on your farm? | 1 | 2 | <1 |
| 4) Do you have a poultry unit on your farm? | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 5) Do you have a grain store? | 19 | *25 | *6 |
(1) Not all farmers returned farm operation data. These data represent 91 per cent of the farms sampled overall, 98 per cent of those using rodenticide and 81 per cent of those not using rodenticides
* Responses marked with an asterisk are significantly different between farms that did and did not use rodenticides (P<0.001)
Table 5 Farmer response to rodenticide stewardship questions - 2017
| Question | Percentage yes response (n=208) (1) |
|---|---|
| 1) Are you aware of the rodenticide stewardship scheme? | 61 |
| 2a) Have you completed a stewardship compliant training course? | 7 |
| 2b) If no, do you intend to complete a stewardship compliant training course in the future? | 32 |
| 3) Have you purchased any rodenticides since April 2016 (1) | 76 |
(1) Not all farmers responded to stewardship questions. These farmers represent 97% of the 214 farmers who conducted their own rodenticide baiting during this survey
(2) The farmers who purchased rodenticides post April 2016 (76% of respondents) used a variety of methods to obtain them, some farmers used more than one method. The majority of purchases were made by proving membership of a compliant QA scheme (53 per cent of purchases), followed by purchase of amateur products (15 per cent), production of a stewardship compliant training certificate (7 per cent) and purchasing non-stewardship products (6 per cent, these were available until September 2016).
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