2024-01-22 09:36:15
« Here begins the land of agricultural resistance », We could read on a banner chanted on the A64, in Carbonne, near Toulouse. This is the camp of farmers who denounce conditions which, according to them, are indecent for French citizens who produce products of excellence and quality, but who still cannot see the end of the tunnel, even with a relatively stable inflation rate compared to past months. Is inflation working against this segment of French society?
Insufficient remuneration
Determined to make themselves heard, French farmers have occupied the highway for three days. Even if this movement has caused some inconvenience, the farmers involved consider that this demonstration is the only solution to possibly change their situation. This is the case of Nicolas Suspene, a 44-year-old farmer and mayor of the small village of Saint-Elix-Séglan, who assured L’OBS: “ We don’t like to bother people, but how else can we make ourselves heard? »
The demands are multiple: increase in charges, ban on pesticides authorized elsewhere, feeling of being crushed by standards deemed excessive, competition from Ukrainian products… The farmers also raised the point which had the most impact on them, namely margins and remuneration that are too modest, or even insufficient, for the work they provide. Europe 1 recalled, in this context, that the net income of the agricultural sector has fallen by 40% in 30 years.
« Inflation does not benefit farmers »
Guest of France info, Sunday January 21, the first vice-president of the FNSEA, Jérôme Despey, assured that “ Inflation does not benefit farmers ». « We always have the lowest prices and it is absolutely unbearable. How do you want to feed our fellow citizens when we make excellent quality products and have made a huge investment? » he asks. He also called for “ fully apply the integration of production costs » to respond to the primary demand of these farmers, namely more advantageous remuneration.
He also underlined the enormous effort they make in terms of production and the resources they require, generating significant costs. “ Today, we have very significant charges of more than 20% and the price of our products […] does not increase, and even decreases “, he explains. Arnaud Gaillot, president of the union Young farmers, expressed on Europe 1 the need to implement the Egalim law, passed in 2018 after the general food conference. This law states that the prices paid to farmers should take into consideration their production costs, in order to prevent selling at a loss.
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