IThey are back. Less than a year after a historic mobilization, at the call of the Departmental Federation of Farmers' Unions (FDSEA) and Young Farmers, farmers returned to the streets of Mont-de-Marsan this Monday, November 18, as in many cities in France. On the gates of the prefecture, the signs of the different municipalities, taken down the day before, expose a feeling of anger towards the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
A few hours earlier, around thirty farmers, distributed in 13 tractors, set off from the Ménasse roundabout, around 6 p.m., making two stops, the first at the Departmental Directorate of Employment, Labor , solidarity and population protection (DDETSPP) and the second at the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM). Before arriving at the prefecture a little later in the evening.
The doors of the DDETSPP were blocked by bales of straw on the evening of Monday, November 18.
Matthieu Sartre
On the tractor of Mickaël, a 31-year-old duck producer, the slogan “Our end will be your hunger” reflects the general state of mind. “With this free trade agreement, we will no longer be competitive at all. This opens the door to poor quality meat and chickens fed antibiotics. » Meanwhile, his colleagues dump straw bales in front of the DDETSPP. “We can’t let ourselves die slowly. We are waiting for answers from the State,” insists this farmer who has been living in Larrivière-Saint-Savin since 2017.
“Unfair competition”
Ahead of the meeting with Prefect Françoise Tahéri, Pierre-Hadrien Cieutat, secretary general of the FDSEA, returned to the reasons for this mobilization. “The treaty with Mercosur is out of the question. We are totally walking on our heads. We hope that the 27 agricultural countries agree to strike at the same time. »
Matthieu Sartre
Around thirty farmers spread across 13 tractors took part in this demonstration.
Farmers denounce “unfair competition” between their products “with environmental and well-being standards to respect” and those from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which authorize antibiotics and hormones of growth. “We do not want to be an adjustment variable,” insisted the trade unionist.
Return of avian influenza
In addition to this major demand, departmental issues are still pending since the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9. The return of avian influenza to two farms in Saint-Étienne-d'Orthe is of great concern to the agricultural world. “We are stressed. The coffers are empty for compensation. »
Sunday evening, the mobilization of the agricultural world began a little earlier than the others in the Landes. Farmers crisscrossed the department's roads to cover municipal signs with black film. Stickers with the words “Are you lost? We too…” were stuck. This Tuesday, November 19 in the morning, it is the turn of the Rural Coordination to go to the prefecture to continue this mobilization.
