the essential
The Saint-Céré intercommunal slaughterhouse is the last multi-species slaughterhouse in the Lot. Its situation and its future worry breeders and local elected officials.
“The Saint-Céré slaughterhouse is a fundamental link in the territory to continue to offer residents local products” summarizes Cyril Vorobioff of the Confédération Paysanne du Lot. At the call of the agricultural union, there are around twenty breeders united in front of the entrance to the Saint-Céré slaughterhouse, present since five in the morning, some demonstrators warm up around improvised fires with a coffee, others hand out leaflets to motorists. are worried about the future of this essential tool for their activity.
“We all have our job” explains Adeline Garric, sheep breeder for lamb in Aynac. “For me, it’s about raising animals and taking them to death, but not giving them death! If we no longer have a slaughterhouse in Saint-Céré, I will have to go further. If I have to travel further, it means work time, additional costs and more stress for the animals! »
DDM David Naulin
“We take our animals to be slaughtered here and we process them in the workshop located right next door,” explains Pierre Hugo Remy-Ballester. For this pig breeder located in Le Bourg, maintaining the slaughterhouse is also essential. “There is only one other slaughterhouse in the Lot located in Gramat. He only slaughters sheep and only for breeders under contract with Bigard. The Saint-Céré slaughterhouse, under intercommunal management, is accessible to all. » Aware of the structural difficulties encountered by the slaughterhouse, this breeder is present to affirm his support for this common good and challenge elected officials. “If we want quality, local agriculture, we need on-site processing tools. »
An annual budget of 600,000 euros for Cauvaldor
“Cauvaldor voted for a budget of 600,000 euros to maintain financial balance” recalls Jean-Claude Fouché, President of Cauvaldor. “It is a very large but necessary budget. Our objective is to perpetuate this local tool.” The project currently being considered is to transform the management into a Mixed Economy Company (SEM) to allow the entry of new financial partners. “It’s very heavy to carry, we won’t be able to continue to do it alone,” confides the elected official. “But it is also necessary for breeders to play the game.” Pierre Hugo Remy-Ballester, member of the peasant confederation confirms. “In Saint-Céré, we slaughter a volume of 2,000 tonnes even though it is calibrated for 3,000 tonnes! This is explained by a lack of slaughterers, few come for a question of costs but it is also explained by political choices.”
DR Antoine Labrunie
“We have a sword of Damocles hanging over us”
“We can be satisfied with a demonstration of farmers to support the slaughterhouse” recognizes Hervé Garnier, president of the board of directors of the autonomous management of the Saint-Céré slaughterhouse. “We aim to be a tool serving the region for farmers, butchers and mass retailers. There are a lot of supermarkets that get their supplies here.” This slaughterhouse, like all the others, is experiencing significant difficulties linked to a drop in meat consumption and livestock farming. “Fewer animals to slaughter means less activity, that’s obvious,” continues Hervé Garnier. “We are doing everything to maintain it. We have a sword of Damocles hanging over us. Sometimes I don’t sleep at night, I ask myself questions but we will do everything to save him.” To save the tool and the 21 associated jobs, elected officials from Cauvaldor hope for rapid support from the Department as well as from other communities of communes in the Lot.
