“Very angry”this is the state of mind of the Young Farmers of Deux-Sèvres (JA79), according to the union secretary, Adian Roberts. They will show it this Thursday, November 7, 2024 during a night action in front of the Niort prefecture. A little before midnight, the “200 to 250 panels” of municipalities, removed almost everywhere in the department between the end of October and the beginning of November 2024. Goal of the action: show that “farmers are fed up”. This is a ” warning “ warns Adian Roberts.
The union wants to put the pressure back on. Because the anger has actually been brewing for many months. It broke out at the beginning of 2024 with a series of demonstrations lifted on promises from the State. “Since then, nothing has changed. There are even more with the health crisis and the climate crisis. The promises never came to fruition. We don't know where we are going with a new government. »
“If this continues, we are ready to go further”
Also there is, “JA actions all over France” who remain ” For now “ fragmented over time and across departments. “When we are going to do something collective, then that will be the end. The big boom. We will see the answers. But if this continues, we are ready to go further. » That's to say ? “We haven’t planned anything yet because we don’t want to get to that point but it would be to hold demonstrations like before, blockades at roundabouts, make ourselves heard…”
At the end of October 2024, a “national action which will take effect from mid-November” was announced by the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, on behalf of the agricultural union alliance (FNSEA and JA). Adian Roberts confirms that “there is a reflection on a major national demonstration. Yes, we could take out the tractors but we only want to take them out as a last resort! »
The date of November 15 is circulating: “It was an idea because normally by November 15, all the sowing and all the silage are finished. But there, everywhere in France, there are harvest problems; This is why we cannot promise the date of an event. » In Deux-Sèvres for example, “with such crappy weather conditions in the north, it’s impossible to enter the fields in Bressuire, Thouars, Saint-Varent…”
“We need to have signed answers on paper”
The only certainty is the condition so that the threat of a national demonstration is not carried out: “We need to have clear answers to our demands, signed on paper for it to be recorded”according to the JA79 representative.
In Deux-Sèvres, “farmers cannot get a salary; This can't continue.”. With “climate problems”he evokes “very disastrous harvests”. Added to this “the health crisis at the moment” which affects cattle, sheep and goat farming. In Deux-Sèvres, “We have epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) and bluetongue (BFT). This is a big problem because the FCO 8 vaccines are not supported. It’s between €2 and €4 per head to vaccinate, not including labor…” Adian Roberts reports, for the FCO, 123 outbreaks affecting cattle and 41 sheep in Deux-Sèvres between August and early October 2024 as well as “twenty farms affected in total by MHE” since the start of the epidemic.
What are the demands?
Among the demands of Young Farmers are: “temporal cash flow measures, a fund to reduce charges, direct aid to farms in crisis, the generalization of vaccines, compensation for losses linked to illnesses…”
The JA79s also wish “global coherence”positioning itself ” against “ the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries which “will endanger European farmers”. They denounce “unfair competition” due in particular to “much lower charges than us”.
Other discontents, “imports from Ukraine which do not have the promised quotas” or even “Chinese exports such as Cognac, which will be taxed”.
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