The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, is expected on Saturday January 20 on farms as demonstrations of discontent from the profession multiply. Recently reappointed, the minister is expected in the afternoon at a dairy farmer in Cher to address “the major projects of the ministry to come and in particular that of simplification”, according to the ministry. He must then participate in a “working meeting with professional agricultural organizations”.
One month before the opening of the Agricultural Show and with the European elections approaching, the multiplication of signs of discontent among farmers is worrying the government. The reasons for anger are diffuse: inflation, administrative burden, fed up with the feeling of being crushed by national or European standards in the name of ecological transition…
In freezing cold, farmers blocked the A64 motorway between Toulouse and Tarbes, in Carbonne (Haute-Garonne), for the second night in a row. Occitan farmers are demanding the arrival of the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, in order to obtain answers on the epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which affects many cattle. The demonstrators, who have been holding the camp since Thursday evening, are taking turns on site, according to a representative of the Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FDSEA). A meeting must be held in the afternoon between the regional prefect and a delegation of farmers.
On Thursday, dairy farmers gathered in front of several Lactalis sites in the West, denouncing the price of milk set by the group, considered too low.
On a series of “hot topics”, the profession “waits for very clear answers before the Agricultural Show”, which will open on February 24 in Paris, warned the president of the National Federation of Trade Unions. farmers (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau, during his vows. The union, which has a majority among farmers, is meeting its board of directors on Wednesday and should be able to announce the actions it intends to take “next Thursday”, a source told Agence France-Presse (AFP). internal to the federation.
As for the Rural Coordination, the second agricultural union, it plans to mobilize on January 25 “almost everywhere in France” with “radar covering” operations to denounce “overadministration”, or even “more spectacular operations”.
A bill for “the renewal of generations in agriculture”
“I hear and I am very attentive to the expressions of farmers,” assured Friday to the Dépêche du Midi Mr. Fesneau, saying “to have obtained a historic budget (…) of 4 billion for the next three years”. Monday, he will be in Vendée on the theme of water in agriculture.
During his press conference on January 16, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, cited agriculture among the areas in which he intended to “accelerate” the “rearmament” of the country. He “asked the Minister of the Interior to instruct the prefects to go this weekend to meet farmers” and their unions, “as close as possible to the field,” assured the Elysée on Friday.
“One of the first bills” that the new government will present concerns “the renewal of generations in agriculture,” said Mr. Attal. This text, on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of January 24, plans to create a new bac 3 level diploma and a one-stop shop to support candidates for installation. The profession was waiting for a more ambitious guiding law.
Head of the National Rally list in the European elections on June 9, Jordan Bardella took up the subject and announced his arrival on Saturday in the Médoc, where he is to meet winegrowers. The day before, he asked the prime minister to “declare a state of agricultural emergency” and “establish economic patriotism to protect [the] farmers.”