January 2025 will be the month of elections for representatives of the profession in the chambers of agriculture. In Loire-Atlantique, the FNSEA, which has managed the departmental chamber since 2007, could well lose its majority to the Confédération Paysanne.
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Who from the FNSEA or the Confédération Paysanne will win in Loire-Atlantique these elections which take place from January 7 to 30, 2025? During the previous election six years ago, the FNSEA won, after a first vote in favor of the Confédération Paysanne, but canceled. Trailing by only two votes, the FNSEA (allied to the Young Farmers) contested the results. A message on the Facebook social network of the Confédération Paysanne the day before the election was deemed contrary to electoral rules, hence the cancellation of the results and the organization of a new election.
But for these 2025 elections, the Confédération Paysanne hopes to win.
The Chambers of Agriculture aim to represent the agricultural world to public authorities, local authorities and the State.
They also have missions to assist with installation, transition, continuing training for farmers and support in their development projects. To do this, they employ advisors, whether agronomists or livestock specialists.
Under State supervision, they can carry out missions such as biological surveillance of their territory or the traceability of animals, cattle, sheep, etc.
The Chambers of Agriculture intervene on issues of water management, diversity, energy, preservation of natural resources and reduction of the use of phytosanitary products.
Crucial issues for the sector. Hence the political importance of these upcoming elections to elect, in each chamber, 33 representatives in different colleges, operators, owners, employees, retirees, etc.
In Loire-Atlantique, the Confédération Paysanne (which was referred to under the potentially confusing name of FDSEA-Confédération Paysanne) managed the Chamber of Agriculture for a long time before the FNSEA-JA alliance won the elections of 2007 and following.
For the Confédération Paysanne, this January 2025 election should be that of the “awareness”.
“Things are going in the direction of what we denounce, says Jean-Christophe Richard, president of the Confédération Paysanne de Loire-Atlantique. Climate disruption, the water issue, Mercosur that we have been denouncing since 1999. These will be tomorrow's issues that we will have to manage collectively and not individually. The role of the Chamber of Agriculture is central.”
The union leader is well aware that he is not going to change European policy, but insists on the role of chambers of agriculture at the local level, in the daily lives of farmers to overcome climate change and help reduce costs. and encourage the installation, rather than the expansion of existing operations.
The Confédération Paysanne launched its electoral campaign with daily actions that it will carry out from commune to commune, in Loire-Atlantique. This Monday, December 9 in the morning, she was present in Montbert with a livestock truck on which a poster announces the election to the Chamber of Agriculture. Farmers representing the union will take turns with this team to organize, at each stage, discussions with residents and producers and growers.
For their opponents, the FNSEA-JA list, this 2025 election could well hold surprises. Mickaël Trichet, the president of FNSEA 44, is not winning. “You must never underestimate your opponent”he admits very humbly.
But for him, the challenger is not only the Peasant Confederation. Mickaël Trichet, evokes a three-way match.
“This deleterious atmosphere, he says about the current political context, could well give some people the idea of doing clearance work”. And it would not be surprising if the voices of tired farmers went to the Rural Coordination, an agricultural union known to be very right-wing, even far-right.
“Since 2019, he recalls, referring to a first round favorable to the Peasant Confederation, I am no longer surprised by anything.”
Afterwards, difficult weather, a dissolution then a motion of censure, “We have broken governance, notes Mickaël Trichet, we lack readability.”
Hence the importance, according to him, of structures such as chambers of agriculture, led by elected officials from the agricultural world.
“The Chamber of Agriculture is there to apply a union vision”he said.
For their campaign, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers' Union will focus on themes such as the defense of income, human action for the maintenance of natural environments rather than the “closure” of certain areas.
“No ban without solution”, advances the trade unionist who, if he is not opposed to the reduction of phytosanitary products, asks for long-term support from farmers on this issue where he fears a ban without aid.
The international geopolitical context, the negotiation on Mercosur and climate change give these elections to the Chambers of Agriculture particular importance. It remains to be seen whether voters will mobilize. During the last elections, the national abstention rate was particularly high, reaching 71.5%.
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