Agricultural crisis. Around twenty farmers empty their bags in front of a Lot senator

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Friday October 25, 2024, 8:30 p.m., it's dark and it's raining Tauriac, in the Dordogne valley. The small town hall parking lot is full. Behind the windows of the municipal hall, guests flock for the meeting between the senator Raphaël Daubet and around twenty farmers, active or retired. It is an almost face-to-face exchange which will take place between representatives of the agricultural world and the parliamentarian.

Gérard Flament, deputy mayor of Tauriacpresents the evening which he took the initiative of organizing with Nicolas Calle, municipal councilor and farmer. Around ten themes will be addressed. Raphaël Daubet greets the assembly, emphasizing the importance of this exchange: “we need to have feedback from the field”. He will be served.

Standards: the bane of farmers

Kicking off, on the issue of standards. “Here in our region, most farmers work on several productions and each production is affected by French and European standards; we're fed up with all these checks all the time! » declares a farmer, indicating in passing that French standards go further than European regulations. “It's well known, in France we want to wash whiter than white, but as a result, it's the farmers who are in the problem…” comments a recently retired farmer.

In the room, several speakers provide details, indicating how the controls relate to the equipment used, to the dates of the operations carried out… “When we trim a hedge for example, a controller comes to see if it was carried out on the right date, s 'there are birds… it's boring! » Farmers are unanimous in denouncing the mountain of paperwork they have to face. “Sometimes we are lost in front of this pile of forms to fill out,” says a young farmer under 30 years old.

Taking aim at the diktats issued in the name of ecology: “Ecology has become too politicized, sometimes to the point of absurdity, because those who issue the directives do not have their feet in the mud! » Farmers denounce the weight of the constraints imposed on them. “We don't work with our noses on the calendar, we seek to ally ourselves directly with nature and the weather,” objects one of them.

Another element in the sights of farmers: the CAP (common agricultural policy), considered “not adapted” to the characteristics of agriculture in the north of the Lot. This would also be a source of misunderstandings within the media who do not realize that there are two types of agriculture, with on the one hand large farms with several hundred hectares and on the other hand farmers working in polyculture on limited areas, not to mention that certain agricultural areas are subject to special protections such as Natura 2000, including a certain number of habitats and species protected and representative of biodiversity.

“Everything is not necessarily bad in the CAP, but there is a lack of common sense among these technicians disconnected from the field,” insists a farmer. It remains to find where the problem lies. “Not just at European level! » exclaims a retiree. It appears in fact that at the national level dysfunctions are legion. Is it normal that almost 80% of agricultural subsidies are addressed to just over 20% of farmers only, including cereal growers and the agricultural zone of Brittany? Wouldn't the agricultural world suffer from a certain fragmentation?

Difficulty finding labor

Farmers report experiencing increasing difficulty in finding labor for seasonal jobs. Hence certain productions which risk being neglected, for this reason. Many farmers call on foreign nationals, from Italy or North Africa. However, here too, the paperwork is coming back at a gallop. Thus the young farmer explains that when hiring employees for very specific tasks, such as harvesting asparagus, she is required to provide an administrative document listing all the accident risks that could occur on the farm. exploitation, even if the person hired will only work on the asparagus planting plot.

The Egalim Law, “a gas factory”

“It is large-scale distribution that retains control and the Egalim law (law aimed at protecting farmers' remuneration)” observes a farmer. It appears from the discussions that this law remains abstract and continues to let the law of supply and demand prevail. “We are the only profession that cannot set the selling price of its products,” says one of the members of the assembly. He explains that the cost of production is not calculated by the farmer, but by organizations which do not take into account all the elements. For example, the situation varies depending on whether it is a young farmer or a farmer at the end of his career. The farmer is forced to yield to the law of supply and demand, because he does not have the means to store his products. It must necessarily pass under the caudine forks of mass distribution.

Harmed by the Mercosur agreements?

Question asked by several participants in this debate: how is it that it is forbidden to produce calves with hormones, but that they can be sold for consumption? Farmers also question the organic label internationally, to the extent that the specifications are not the same as in France and those in force abroad. Another observation that makes you cough is the ban on heating vegetable greenhouses with gas, while at the same time, a stream of trucks circulates between France and Spain. And again, how can we explain that meat coming from abroad is labeled “France” from the moment it is processed in France.

“And why can't we operate like in Switzerland, where as long as there are enough potatoes produced locally, the borders are closed for this production? » asks another farmer. Sandra Kwiatkowski, Raphaël Daubet's assistant, blackens the pages of her notebook. “The question is becoming thorny, given the rise of nationalist currents,” admits Raphaël Daubet.

As the discussions progressed, even though it had been decided to stick to the local dimension of the difficulties experienced on a daily basis, the reality of the situations reflected an overlap with national and international policies, which were built over time. of the last five decades. What follows is a feeling of powerlessness to move the lines.

What about water management?

No better! Here too, farmers do not understand all the restrictions to which they are subject. “How do you explain, Mr. Senator, that watering the lawn of a sports stadium poses no problem for anyone, while for us who produce crops to feed the population, it suddenly becomes a problem? » Another situation which seems to annoy farmers quite a bit, the regulations concerning access to the river and management of the surrounding area. “There is no maintenance of the banks today, the trees are falling and we can no longer access certain plots, supposedly in the name of preserving biodiversity! » denounces a farmer. At this level, the town hall and the community of municipalities seem to pass the buck, which further bogs down the debate.

Damage: wildlife blamed

Farmers denounce an exponential reproduction of certain wild animals: wild boars, jackdaws, crows, badgers… causing significant crop losses. Farmers raise problems with hunting authorizations in certain sectors. They point out that the badger carries diseases, notably tuberculosis, as has been observed in the Gourdonnais and Dordogne. “In this country, we defend the wolf more easily than the herds of farmers, who work to feed the population! » thunders a farmer. “It must also be said that we don't even hear elected politicians stepping up to defend us! » adds another. “It had to be said and it’s done!” », applauds another.

Pensions still so low?

As for the nagging problem of agricultural pensions increased from €800 to €1,000 per month, one of the farmers could not digest having remained at €800, “because he also receives €130 as a former elected official municipal”. “It’s shameful!” » he continues, explaining that he accomplished his commitment to serving community interests as an elected official in addition to his work as a farmer.

It is no surprise that in such a context, the prospects for the transfer of agricultural holdings do not look very encouraging. Which could lead agricultural retirees, finding themselves with their farm on their hands, to bear charges, greater than the amount of their pension… “And if there are no more farmers, the wastelands will gain land, with all the problems that this brings: agricultural abandonment, risk of fires, wildness of certain sectors, devaluation of all kinds, including in terms of tourism…”

At the end of these discussions, Mr. Daubet promises to raise to the highest level the issues that could and should evolve in his eyes. He said he was impressed by all the technocratic constraints that farmers must face and he in turn intends to sound the alarm so that agriculture remains one of the foundations of rural France. “There is still time to act, to get our heads above water in agriculture, because it remains a major issue for generations to come, and all the more so in a world undermined by threats of all kinds, including, on the geostrategic level” concludes Raphaël Daubet.

This October 26, 2024, in Tauriac, in the Dordogne valley, the farmers were listened to; they emptied their bag. But will they be heard? Nothing is less certain!

Mercosur refers to a common market that brings together Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. France does not wish to ratify the provisions of the next agreement which affect French farmers, even if the industrial dimension would be favorable to it. Other European countries such as Spain and Germany are lobbying in favor of the treaty.