Anger of farmers: Jérôme Bayle, media figure of the struggle, wants to conquer the Chamber of Agriculture of Haute-Garonne

For months, Jérôme Bayle had been working to make this idea a reality. On December 16, the leading figure of the peasant struggle officially submitted the candidacy of the “Ultras de l’A 64” for the elections to the Chamber of Agriculture of Haute-Garonne, scheduled for January 7 to 31, 2025. As the breeder from Volvestre (Haute-Garonne), darling of the media, never does anything like everyone else, he will campaign without his name appearing among the 20 candidates on his list led by Christian Déqué. “I want to preserve my freedom of speech and action to defend agriculture,” confides the former rugby player.

“Quarrel between people”

After leaving the FDSEA, he aims to put a list without union membership at the head of the Chamber of Agriculture, a first. However, the president of the “Ultras de l’A 64” says he is ready, if he “wins”, to let all his competitors sit in the office. In this case: the “FDSEA/JA” list, that of the Rural Coordination and the Peasant Confederation. To his detractors who accuse him of dividing the already weakened agricultural world “for personal quarrels”, he responds that on the contrary he sees an opportunity: “We, the Ultras of the A 64, now we have a weight on the national media scene and connections with politicians from all sides. This allows us to highlight our department and give momentum to our actions.”

“A man manipulated by power and who wants to please everyone”

Among its flagship proposals are the creation of new water reservoirs to combat prolonged droughts and the installation of solar panels on agricultural roofs. These measures aim to increase the autonomy of farms. Jérôme Bayle also wants to reconstitute a 100% Haute-Garonne “meat” sector to strengthen local resilience.

For Hélène Granzotto-Delmas, head of the list of the Peasant Confederation, it is above all “window dressing”. “It is a list that lacks consistency. The Ultras had affirmed that they would not present candidates and that they would remain in an associative logic to support the unions. Finally, they changed course without proposing a real program. They favor spectacular actions, such as highway blockades, but this does not reflect a solid political vision for agriculture.” If she recognizes the essential contribution of the action of Jérôme Bayle and his comrades in having put public debates back at the heart of public debates, she sees in the figure of the breeder, a regular on TV shows, “a manipulated man, who can -to be without realizing it, by power and who wants to please everyone.”

Disunity weakens the agricultural world

Mathieu Maronès, counterpart of the FDSEA/JA, adopts a more nuanced position regarding the Ultras 64 and Jérôme Bayle: “I think their presence is a good thing for democracy. It shows that every farmer, whatever their position, can be represented. However, it must be recognized that this list adds to the fragmentation, in an already divided territory. It is regrettable on a strategic level, because the union would have made it possible to better defend the interests of farmers.

For the Rural Coordination, an emerging force with around a hundred members, the “Bayle-Ultras 64” candidacy poses no problem. “I have no negative feelings towards him or against his association. Our credo for this election: it is to serve without serving yourself. I simply hope that, whatever the outcome of the election, it will succeed to concrete and positive results”, indicates Dominique Raud, goat breeder and head of the CR 31 list.