Un excess rain, and clouds are gathering over the agricultural sector. The cereal industry could only note, after difficult harvests, a drop of almost a quarter in milling wheat production this year. Similarly, the current harvests are expected to be meager, down by almost 18%, compared to 2023. As for cattle and sheep farmers, they are faced with a tidal wave of bluetongue, but also a resurgence of epizootic haemorrhagic disease. It is in this difficult context for a certain number of farmers, shaken by the consequences of climate change, that a tense agricultural return is beginning.
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A return to school that began in a unique way, with a resigning Minister of Agriculture, in this case Marc Fesneau, who had to manage hot issues during the summer. The appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon, on September 5, after a long suspense, was immediately commented on by agricultural organizations. They all highlight his time at Rue de Varenne, as well as his experience in Brussels. Some remember his management of sensitive issues, such as limiting the use of phytosanitary products or the development of organic farming, where the environmental dimension went hand in hand with agricultural imperatives. Others mention his plan to support livestock farming.
The future government is, in any case, eagerly awaited to remove many uncertainties. The surprise dissolution of the National Assembly decreed by Emmanuel Macron has, in fact, blocked major initiatives. The first of these is none other than the draft orientation law for agricultural sovereignty and the renewal of generations in agriculture, adopted on May 28 by the National Assembly. Since then, it has been on hold.
“We are not playing the card of one party or another”
Taking advantage of this political vacuum, the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) has launched an unprecedented initiative. The union marked its return to work by publishing a draft law that it described as “turnkey” and which he renamed: law for “undertaking in agriculture”. A rewriting of the text adopted by the deputies with many additions concerning taxation, but above all a relaxation of the use of phytosanitary products, with a questioning of the role of the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety. The crucial subject of land is absent. “It must be seen as a structured contribution to the public debate,” reacts Dominique Potier, socialist deputy of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
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