the essential
After the FNSEA on Monday, members of the Rural Coordination blocked part of the Lices Georges-Pompidou in Albi on Tuesday, to express their anger at the complicated situation in agriculture.
It is 2:30 p.m. Around fifty farmers and around fifteen tractors arrive in single file, to take possession of a large part of the Lices Georges-Pompidou in the city center of Albi. Objective: to settle in for several hours, between the Departmental Council and the prefecture. The Rural Coordination is there to express its dismay, as the FNSEA and the Young Farmers did the day before.
“Our agriculture is in a state of disintegration. But we will fight until the end to save our jobs, our passion for this profession even if today, it is very difficult,” summarizes the departmental president, Sébastien Bruyère.
“The first thing is that we want a real income, with correct sales prices,” continues the vice-president, Nicolas Busolin. “The aid for years has not prevented our struggle.” Meanwhile, a caravan redesigned in union colors is preparing for the grills.
“France adds standards to those of Europe”
Others put up “stop agicide” posters. A foam hangman is hung on the prefecture gate and huge tarpaulins against Mercosur and the increasing number of farm closures are placed against the gates.
“We are fed up with the standards that are piling up. You should know that the French government is adding standards to those already existing in Europe, such as nitrate in water. How do you expect us to be competitive ?In our country, we must wash whiter than white”, continues the president of coordination.
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Overall, it recalls the galloping inflation since Covid and the war in Ukraine. Fear of possible free trade with South American countries, including Brazil. “I have 20-year-old children. They would be interested in taking up the torch. But when they see our struggle, they hesitate. Before it was passion before reason. Today, it's the opposite and they are right.”
“In organic, it’s a disaster”
Another crucial point arrives: water. “Today, the law is made to prohibit us from creating hill reservoirs. The objective is to please environmental associations. How do you want to do large-scale cultivation or livestock farming without water? We, what what we are asking is to let us work.”
Everyone is worried that the Tarn farms are emptying out. In a corner, Jean-Marc François, from Rosière, discusses: “I have been in the organic business since 1996. But here, it's really complicated. Consumption continues to fall with inflation. The majority of our customers have before a whole militant approach. At this rate, we are heading towards the wall. In the organic sector, we need clarity over several years. But we clearly feel that the various governments, even the environmentalist parties, have nothing to do. of us.”
The blockage continues. Passers-by film, others watch. “I understand their anger, their lack of decent income. They are the ones who feed us. We must support them,” concludes Maurice.
