Tires and pallets engulfed in large flames, black smoke and small explosions. This Monday evening, at the call of the FDSEA and Young Farmers (JA31), a “fire of anger” ignited a roundabout in Villefranche-de-Lauragais, southeast of Toulouse. The imminent signing of the Mercosur treaty with Latin American countries is the spark that rekindles the anger of the agricultural world. But the fire that has been brewing for a year is more general in a profession that is struggling more than ever. Julien, vice-president of JA31, is a cereal, organic and conventional producer. He comes back for 20 Minutes on this “warning shot” which perhaps presages a great explosion.
Why this return of peasant anger, what are your demands?
This fire of anger is to express our fed up because the agricultural sector is completely neglected. Things should have been done, except that with the dissolution of the National Assembly, we lost a year. We start from zero. But we can't start from scratch forever. At some point, the anger will be so great that we will no longer control anything. We will have to carry out our threats.
What we want today is to be able to make a normal living from our job, without even talking about earning a good living, we've never had the opportunity. What we are asking is to live in a simple way, without being overwhelmed by standards.
What difficulties do you face on a daily basis?
If I take my example, that of a farm that I work with my father on my grandfather's land, this is the second year in a row that we have had negative income. This had never happened in the family. We started to doubt, to think about working differently. But, in fact, no, it's the same everywhere. This year, it's not complicated, we sold our organic wheat, which has a yield three times lower, half the price of conventional wheat. We can't continue like this, we can't live anymore.
And as I am unable to generate income from my farm, I went to look for one outside. For a year, I have been a teacher at the Castelnaudary agricultural high school.
Why does agricultural anger always manifest itself in the heart of winter?
Our only boss is the weather. We go out when we can, and it's the period that suits everyone: it's the end of important work – plowing and sowing – for cereal growers, and before the calving period starts for breeders .
Is Mercosur igniting the powder? And do you feel concerned as a cereal grower?
We sell our cereals to our breeders and if our breeders find themselves in difficulty the entire chain will be affected. Not to mention GMO soya which is already arriving. We trade planes or cars for grain, and agriculture always ends up being the adjustment variable.
