Although some are still mobilized in their fields to pick corn (the harvest of which is delayed for many weeks due to weather conditions), the farmers of Landes intend to make their discontent heard. “The situation has not improved. It is worse for our corporation,” explains the general secretary of FDSEA 40, Pierre Hadrien, who adds that “the year was not good.”
Like a national mobilization which promises to be intense in the coming days, Landes farmers, under the leadership of the FDSEA (Departmental Federation of Farmers' Unions) and Young Farmers have moved to the action this Sunday, November 17 in the early evening. Almost a year ago to the day, the panels of 150 municipalities had been returned. This time, the agricultural movement crisscrossed the roads of the department to cover these same panels with black film and stick stickers on them with the words “Are you lost? We too…”
From 7 p.m., teams met in the east of the department to inaugurate this mobilization. Near Meilhan, about fifteen kilometers from Mont-de-Marsan, Mathieu Labarthe, the general secretary of the Young Farmers, is there. He finds his counterpart from the FDSEA and colleagues. At the entrance to the small town, it only takes a few seconds for the sign to disappear under the plastic.
In small groups
“We are going to do this sector in the canton of Tartas, Pontonx-sur-l’Adour, Souprosse,” explains the union leader. A first way to express their determination. Then the gang divides into several groups to take action. No municipality will escape it. As the evening progressed, the messages poured out, because the angry farmers wanted to “maintain this pressure”.
For this reason, this mobilization will experience new growth this Monday, November 18, at the end of the day. “We are going to mobilize in Mont-de-Marsan, during a meeting with the prefect of Landes at the end of the day,” say the two unionists. “Nothing has changed, even though we had made progress at the departmental level during various meetings. But for several months, nothing. »
The demands have not changed since the start of the year: “Access to water, management of the returning avian flu, cash flow support for viticulture among others,” they continue.
With the tractors
This first action, carried out on Sunday evening, ended in the middle of the night. This Monday, angry farmers will meet at 6 p.m. This time, processions of tractors will form to circulate in Mont-de-Marsan and reach the prefecture. A little earlier, a procession is even expected near the sub-prefecture in Dax. Signs for city entrances will be hung on the prefectural gates. “We hope to be heard,” conclude the union officials.
The Landes Rural Coordination will mobilize the next day, with a rally near the prefecture in the early morning.
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