Farmers block this Wednesday noon a warehouse of the Colruyt group in Ghislenghien. They protest against the attitude of the group, which contributes, according to them, to the precariousness of their profession. “The Colruyt group is asked to stop buying agricultural land at a price that is well above the market“, explains Vincent Delobel, farmer and member of the FUGEA agricultural union. “They are responsible for the rising prices of agricultural land. Then, the other problem is that once these lands have been acquired, Colruyt refuses to rent them to farmers under farm lease. They invent their own forms of contract, which are much more precarious for the farmer.”
For farmers, this means a loss of cultivation and marketing freedom. In addition, the rents are not fixed by law, since they are not farm leases. These rents are then higher, and fixed by Colruyt. Farmers are also outraged to see the Colruyt group benefit from European agricultural aid. “These envelopes are already quite meager, and are decreasing from legislature to legislature. For us, it is unacceptable that a group like this comes to draw on this aid.”
After having tried to recall this legal framework, the farmers wanted to carry out a “punch” action. The two agricultural unions FUGEA, Boerenforum and the RéSAP (Support Network for Peasant Agriculture) are taking part in this action. “As a reminder, Colruyt has already acquired more than 175 ha of agricultural land“, can we read in a press release. “Following the various consumer awareness actions carried out in recent months, FUGEA and RéSAP were received by the agri-food group on October 20. We had agreed with Colruyt to schedule a second meeting, but the group wanted to stop the discussion, particularly on the issue of the farm lease.