Young Farmers take their anger up a notch

A small fire on the large Folie roundabout. Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at 8 a.m., there were not yet many of them at the northern exit of Poitiers, but the handful of farmers present, mobilized around the Young Farmers 86 union, were still very angry against the future treaty free trade between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia).

Before starting the towing operation, Adrien Herault, dairy farmer in Chenevelles, has already prepared his speech to the people of Poitevin: “Take advantage of French agriculture, because with Mercosur, there will be no more. »

Controlled Eastern wheat baguettes

In the morning, the demonstration caused some slowdowns on the D910 but, overall, the movement was rather well received, judging by the thumbs raised out of the window and the honking of motorists' horns.

In addition to Mercosur, farmers are dragging a host of problems behind them. When the dairy farmer from Chenevelles complains about the drop in the price of milk – “We are at 44 cents per liter (€440 per tonne), whereas we were at 47 cents at the start of the year” –, Benjamin Aucher, grain grower and veal calf breeder, calls for simplification by taking an example: “For the cleaning of a watercourse, it takes two days to make a request and two to three months to get a response. That discourages a lot of people. » Like others, he spends a third of his time with his head in administrative procedures.

In the afternoon, a small group of farmers checked a refrigerated truck which was transporting frozen baguettes at the Poitiers-Nord toll booth. “with wheat that came from Eastern countries”.

At the same time, the demonstrators – around thirty last night – announced other actions to come and decided to block part of the road to set up their camp. Considering their installation, there is no doubt that they will not spend just one night there.