Lhe rubber boots were the common thread of this last session of the Dordogne Chamber of Agriculture, which was held this Tuesday, November 26 at the interconsular center of Coulounieix-Chamiers, before the elections of new representatives in January 2025. Around fifty operators came to leave as many pairs of empty boots in front of the entrance to the institution. Symbol of farmers who have disappeared due to lack of income.
“Six years and nothing has changed, you continued to drive in the dark, headlights off,” asserts François Soulard, spokesperson for the Perigord branch of the Confédération Paysanne union, at the origin of the demonstration. In his viewfinder? The outgoing president of the Chamber of Agriculture, Jean-Philippe Granger, affiliated with the alliance of the Departmental Union Federation of Farmers (FDSEA) and Young Farmers (JA).
Around fifty farmers responded to the call from the Peasant Confederation, protesting in front of the interconsular center, in particular against the Mercosur free trade agreement.
Stéphane Klein / SO
Avalanche of crises
The timing is chosen knowingly. A few months before the elections, in which Jean-Philippe Granger will run for a third consecutive term, the Confédération paysanne hopes “to finally be represented within the four walls of this chamber”, concludes François Soulard, without confirming his candidacy.
“Six years and nothing has changed, you continued driving in the dark, headlights off”
“Over the last six years, it is true that we have looked more like a crisis center, successively managing the avian influenza epidemic, the health crisis, the hail in the Riberacois, the surge in the price of cereals in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, etc. So many hazards leaving little room for innovative projects,” recognizes the outgoing president, during his last microphone of the mandate.
Stéphane Klein / SO
The spokesperson for the Confédération Paysanne, François Soulard, hopes that his union will be represented in the Chamber at the end of the January elections, without confirming his candidacy.
A last for him, but a first for the new prefect of Dordogne, Marie Aubert, in office since Monday 25. Also, after having approved a “cautious” 2025 forecast budget with a deficit of 80,000 euros, Jean-Philippe Granger held to prepare a real road map for the state representative, coming from the Grand Est.
A winegrower grandfather
“The Dordogne is a model department in terms of agriculture which ticks all the boxes, except that of income. With 22 different sectors, we are the first in organic producers, in veal, in fatty nuts… lists the president. However, we cannot do as in other departments, we must remember the specificities of the area, whether sectoral or even topographical. »
Stéphane Klein / SO
President Jean-Philippe Granger (left) led the last session of the Chamber of Agriculture before the January elections.
“We need your services to convince Paris,” he finishes. The prefect is attentive and takes notes. She is even already planning discussions with the Bergerac wine growers present in the room, recalling the professional activity of her grandfather, a wine grower on the coasts of Blaye, in Gironde.
She symbolically received a miniature rubber boot. “Adult size comes in green,” quips Jean-Philippe Granger. The invitation to come and explore the agricultural lands of Périgord could not be clearer.
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