Anger of farmers: “Politicians really need to take action” warns a breeder from Creuse

Carole, Jean-Pierre, Robin… They are breeders in Creuse. France Bleu gives them the floor as part of a special “agricultural crisis” day this November 15, 11 months after the roadblocks and the agricultural demonstrations at the start of 2024, on the eve of the resumption of last winter's movement. What is their state of mind? Why go back to protest? What are they waiting for?

Carole Alabergère is a farmer with her husband. They raise Charolais in Genouillac in the east of the Creuse. She participated in the blocking of the national 145 near Guéret last January. The barrage lasted ten days. “The results are not much. The politicians have raised the issue, but there have been no real actions and somewhere, we suspected it a little. We all hope, but it's complicated “. She will be in demonstrations again from Monday, but we feel she is disillusioned. “I don't even know if we should believe it. Our policies really need to move. There is still a general feeling of fed up”.

Historically low harvests, appearance of new diseases in herds, bad news adds to demands older ones, such as remuneration or standards. In the commune of Roches, Jean-Pierre Ageorges hoped that this winter's demonstrations would ease regulations and controls, but he did not see any progress. He believes that farmers live with “the knot in my stomach almost constantly and the fear of doing wrong. There are police who come to check you, to see if you have done the right thing, if you have not done it…. It's a bit painful” .

“The agricultural crisis has been here for years” says a breeder from Saint-Bard

Weariness and disappointment are also palpable at Robin Leclercq, a dairy cow breeder in Saint-Bard. He was on the roadblock with the Young Farmers last January. ” The country was paralyzed for a month. We expected there to be answers, but time passed and nothing changed“, he regrets. This thirty-year-old says to himself: “a little disgusted that things are not moving forward, since the agricultural crisis has been there for years, throughout the country. Spending days in the cold around tire fires and everything, that's not what We prefer. We don't do this for pleasure. I prefer to be on my farm.”. For Robin Leclercq, Mercosurthe free trade agreement with South American countries, is a red line not to be crossed. “On the one hand, Europe is imposing more and more standards on us. And on the other hand, we are preparing to bring in thousands of tonnes of meat from South America which do not respect at all French and European standards.