Word: volesous
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Traditionally, Castilla-León is Spain's breadbasket, its dry flatlands covered with wheat, barley and other grains that require little water. But in recent decades, farmers have begun switching to more profitable irrigated crops, unwittingly creating an alluring new habitat for the vole. "Since the late 1980s we...
The voles first survived because of the season's mild temperatures, then flourished thanks to large litters and a fleeting, 21-day gestation cycle. But in rural Spain, suggests Luque, people "prefer more elaborate theories." Says Ariano Medina, a beet farmer in the village of Fresno el Viejo, echoing a...
The regional government has promised to eradicate the plague in five weeks by burning fields, distributing poison, and clearing nests. But earlier this week a German biologist hired to assist with the endeavor told El País newspaper that he had doubts about the plan. In Fresno el Viejo...
Growers across the region are angry about what they consider an inadequate government response, and agricultural unions are threatening collective action. In the meantime, some farmers are taking matters into their own hands. One potato field just outside of Fresno is dotted with poison-filled red plastic tubes. Medina, who...
Alonso, who calls the lack of government action a "disgrace," shares the despair of many farmers in Carpio. As she and her husband, along with four hired workers, toss aside the ruined potatoes they've just unearthed, she frets about the future. "The voles have taken our winter bread," she...