Elections to the Chamber of Agriculture of Tarn-et-Garonne: who are the 20 candidates chosen by the JA and the FDSEA?

This Tuesday morning, the Young Farmers (JA) and the Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FDSEA) organized the presentation of the candidates from their joint list for the elections to the Chamber of Agriculture, the poll of which is set for January 31 2025, at midnight. On the land farmed by organic market gardener Anselme Pailhiez at the La Prade estate, in Lacourt-Saint-Pierre, the majority unions both took stock of the last six years and outlined their objectives for the next term.

“We cannot say that we are only mobilizing in view of the elections. Bad weather, health crises, employment, irrigation: we are there every day, on all issues, all the time. Thanks to this image of working unionism, combat and above all, solutions, we managed to bring 60 million euros into the department by working with the State. I also remind you that it was our blockade of Blagnac airport which signaled the start of mobilizations throughout France,” says Jean-Philippe Viguié, who is seeking the presidency of this “very diverse” list of 20 names*. When the host of the day could become the vice-president. “I want to bring my ideas to the room. It was offered to me, it’s the opportunity,” says Anselme Pailhiez, 26 years old and confident about the consumer’s “awareness” of the importance of defending this “French agricultural model”.

“The positions don’t matter to us, we mainly want to work on the files. Our objective is to support on a technical level, to be a facilitator for the administration and to develop the income of our colleagues so that they regain their dignity. We are not here to promise the big night, we just want to find fulfilled colleagues, numerous and integrated into their territory. In ten years, half of farmers will have retired. We must therefore be able to rediscover the desire to settle down and the desire to pass on,” insists Jean-Philippe Viguié who will not run again, in 2025, for the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA) where he holds the position of deputy president.

“A unionism that is sometimes a little rough but above all courageous”

“We defend a unionism that is sometimes a little rough but above all courageous. Demonstrations take up 0.5% of our time because we are primarily concerned with finding solutions. The report that we produced very recently for the attention of the minister is an illustration of this,” remarks Damien Garrigues, president of FDSEA 82.

For Benjamin Checchin and Jean-Baptiste Gibert, the JA will also continue to be involved in all the battles. “As long as things go bad, we’ll be here. If we want to preserve this atypical French model so much, it’s because it’s the only one that works. The union strength in Tarn-et-Garonne allows for influence in regional and national negotiations. We are regularly received and listened to. Which proves that you have to pull out your muscles because there is always a brain behind it. »

From now on, the challenge for everyone remains the mobilization of voters. In 2019, the participation rate was 48.53%. Voting materials must now be sent in January with all the information to vote by mail or electronically.