The major challenges of French agriculture at the heart of the debates at the Midi Libre editorial office

David Sève, Rémi Dumas, Morgane Bara, Christophe Sabatier, et Frédéric Mazer (de gauche à droite) ont débattu ce mardi à Midi Libre. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

À l’occasion des élections aux chambres d’agriculture qui se déroulent en ce moment, Midi Libre a rassemblé des représentants des listes en présence pour un débat riche et pluraliste sur les grands enjeux de cette campagne électorale.

Elections to the Chambers of Agriculture are currently underway: farmers and retirees can vote by mail or electronically until midnight on January 31. Elected for six years, the members of the 88 French chambers are the voices of farmers to the public authorities. The Chambers of Agriculture also play an advisory and service role to the profession. Midi Libre brought together representatives of the lists present for a rich and pluralist debate on the major issues of this election campaign.

The following took part: Frédéric Mazer, a sheep farmer in Corbès (Gard), who co-chairs the National Movement for the Defense of Family Farmers; Christophe Sabatier, a winegrower and pig farmer in Assas (Hérault), he is the spokesperson for the Rural Coordination in Hérault; Morgane Bara, a goat farmer in Saint-Etienne-de-Gourgas (Hérault), she is the spokesperson for Conf’34; Davis Sève, an arboriculturist in the Beaucaire plain (Gard), he chairs the FDSEA of Gard. Rémi Dumas, winemaker and sheep farmer in Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues (Hérault), he chairs the Young Farmers of Hérault.

A panorama of agriculture in the region. A.L.

“Setting prices to stop selling at a loss”

How to allow farmers to live from their work ? This was almost the common thread of this debate between the different representatives of the agricultural unions, as the subject is so important. “If they didn't have a salary, do you think there would be many journalists at Midi Libre ?“, asked the president of the FDSEA30, David Sève. The answer was obviously in the question.

Everyone therefore agreed that this should be the priority. However, there were differences of opinion on the solutions. “We want a guaranteed minimum price that includes the cost of production, the farmer's remuneration up to a minimum minimum wage and social security contributions to allow everyone to be protected“, first defended Morgane Bara, for the Confédération paysanne, adding that this should not prevent then “better valuations”.

An opinion shared by David Sève.“Today we have a handful of industrialists, large distributors and traders who buy 80% of the production from a multitude of farmers. There is an hourglass effect that allows them to raise prices, without the producer being paid a fair price. However, it is forbidden, in so many other areas, to sell at a loss. We therefore have great hopes for a new Egalim law that would take into account production cost indicators that would allow us not to sell at a loss”, summarized the FDSEA representative.

David Sève, current president of the FDSEA du Gard. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

“Reduce costs to gain income”

For the Rural Coordination, this involves another measure: “reduce costs”, suggests Christophe Sabatier. According to him, imposing excessively high floor prices could push consumers away from French products. “While we have a lot of charges, social charges of course, but also all the constraints such as controls, the preparation of files… Reducing these costs would, mechanically, allow us to earn income”.

The proposal animated the debate, Frédéric Mazer, for Modef, saying he was “flabbergasted”. “It is up to the State to impose prices“, he opposed, before explaining: “If we let the players negotiate, it's always the biggest who will win. The State must therefore say stop and set minimum thresholds.” For him, the aid and other bonuses provided during crises, “is just a sticking plaster on a wooden leg, we need to change things structurally. We can see this with last year's movement which didn't change anything”.

Everything fits together…

“This aid, as always, has allowed many of us to get through this”, retorted Rémi Dumas, for the Young Farmers, before defending the record of his peers, JA and FNSEA, who worked on the first Egalim law, “certainly imperfect, but which gave an impetus”. The Héraultais, also in favor of production cost indicators, added that he was wary of a floor price“which would become the ceiling price. In any case, we need to think more broadly, with work on charges or even mirror clauses to avoid unfair competition from foreign producers who do not have the same constraints as us”.

Everything is therefore intertwined around this question of income. Including for… the transfer of farms. “If the profession is not attractive, it is difficult to find buyers”, David Sève punctuated. Logical too.

Frédéric Mazer, co-president of the National Movement for the Defense of Family Farmers. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

“We must remove agriculture from free trade”

Mercosur and CAP, the two acronyms that stir up the world of French agriculture when it comes to issues that go beyond the borders of France.

As for the southern common market, the five personalities invited to debate this Tuesday at the headquarters of Midi Libre found themselves more or less on similar positions. With nuances.

“It's the bonus for the lowest fiscal and social bidder, without a mirror clause” deplored Frédéric Mazer. “And agriculture is only an adjustment variable” added Christophe Sabatier. “We simply don't want free trade agreements, even with a mirror clause” Morgane Bara stated: “It's absurd to ship fertilizer from the other side of the world. We need to change the system.”

“We're not going to trade cognac for batteries”

“We're not going to import cheaper products to be able to export quality” Rémi Dumas noted for his part: “And we're not going to trade cognac for batteries! We need to get agriculture out of the free trade” he assured, drawing some mocking comments from his counterparts, inviting him to join their respective unions: “But what are you still doing at the FNSEA? Rousseau (Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, which the Young Farmers are close to – Editor's note), he doesn't say that, eh ? Join us!” laughed Frédéric Mazer.

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While David Sève modulated: “Be careful though, cereals, wines, spirits, we are still exporters. Afterwards, it's certain that if the Brazilians import, it's the end of beans! The return of Donald Trump ? We are surely heading towards a trade war.”

“A gigantic deception”

The Common Agricultural Policy remains a major subject for our interlocutors. “A gigantic deception” for Frédéric Mazer: “They talk to us about liberalism, they explain to us that the market decides, that we have to be competitive. And in fact… not at all! We are in a dirigiste policy, if we withdraw public money from the CAP, everything collapses. We propose capping the first pillar at €50,000. And reducing the price of land to allow a greater number of installations.”

“It's true that for the installation of our children, there is no visibility. Already the job of farmer is not a job like the others” continued David Sève. A remark on which Christophe Sabatier bounced back: “Most parents today do not want their children to settle down…”

Morgane Bara, spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation in Hérault. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

“Without the CAP, I wouldn't live”

Morgane Bana acknowledged: “Me, a breeder on the Causse, without the CAP, I wouldn't live. But it's misused. And everyone should have the right to it, Because there are still quite a few people left behind by the CAP.”

According to Rémi Dumas, “if there wasn't the CAP, prices would explode. We need to find the right balance. The CAP is used for installations, but there are too many ancillary sectors to agriculture that “eats” on the CAP.”

“There is a bad distribution” agreed David Sève. “Where Europe is failing is that there is no social harmonization” regretted Frédéric Mazer.

Christophe Sabatier, spokesperson for the Rural Coordination of Hérault. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Global warming: “Without water, no agriculture”

“We are the first to take global warming on our faces. We are aware of it”. Frédéric Mazer, from Modef, did not mince his words to open the sequence on global warming. However, he still links the subject to income. “We need to have financial comfort to think about how to adapt, so move towards a model that defends the right price”.

For Christophe Sabatier, from Coordination rurale, this rather calls for a reflection on access to water. “Without water, there is no agriculture. So, when there is a Cévennes episode, we must be able to store it. Reservoirs would first prevent flooding downstream, create wetlands for biodiversity and allow us to irrigate in summer”. David Sève, whose fruit farm is in the Gard, shares this opinion.“It is obviously out of the question to appropriate the water in summer. But this winter, the Rhône experienced several waves at 8,000 m3 per second. We can capture some of it and, through pipelines, bring this water to basins as far as the Pyrénées-Orientales“, he suggested, thus calling for the development of the BRL network.

“We use water wisely”

Rémi Dumas, for the JA, went further by suggesting laying new pipes along the future Montpellier-Perpignan high-speed train line. He added:“But we must realize that we are using water wisely. Moreover, in ten years, we have seen the vineyard evolve, with grass in the vines to prevent erosion, plowing… There is also the search for grape varieties that are more resistant to disease and drought that the State should support even more”.

Morgane Bara, from the Confédération paysanne, advocated another vision. “The first place where water must be stored is the soil. We must move towards agricultural practices that help soils regenerate and store water. We know that this will be a source of tension and that all the pipes that we can pull will not necessarily guarantee water all year round at the tap.”

David Sève also called for a change in regulations on agricultural disasters. “The aid fund's references are previous years. But when you experience several climatic incidents, sometimes two in the same year, the yields, and therefore the references, continue to fall. This system needs to be reviewed, otherwise, here, we're heading straight for a brick wall“, he warned. Another major issue.

Rémi Dumas, president of the Young Farmers of Hérault. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Organic and pesticides: “We all have common sense”

Divergencies have emerged when discussing organic farming. “Many have come back. There has been such an increase in surface areas, therefore a greater supply than demand, that colleagues are selling organic at the price of conventional, with charges that remain higher. There will be adjustments”, estimated David Sève for the FDSEA. “Mass distribution and manufacturers have worked to reduce organic, but civil society remains loyal to it, also for health reasons. It is a model for the future”, thinks on the contrary Frédéric Mazer, for the Modef.

Two different points of view that launched the debate. “The peasant confederation is calling for support towards the phasing out of chemical pesticides. We should not go organic to enter a niche market, but because that is what agriculture is”, Morgane Bara intervened. While Christophe Sabatier, from the Rural Coordination, deplored “a lack of European harmonization” on the subject, Rémi Dumas, for the JA, called for unity. “We all have common sense as farmers. When I don't need to treat, I don't treat. I am convinced that I am more virtuous than an organic farmer a few years ago”. David Sève then called on the State to accelerate research. “Efforts have already been made, but we can still significantly reduce treatments with varieties that are more resistant to the disease”. A subject for the next term ?

Elections: “Difficulties in mobilizing”

If the campaign for the elections to the chambers of agriculture is in full swing, revealing the differences in approach of the lists represented in our premises, one point brought our debaters together: the interest in participating. “We have difficulty mobilizing because people do not always see the usefulness of the chambers. And also because there is discouragement in the countryside” David Sève said.

“I do a lot of door-to-door work, leafleting in the markets to encourage people to go and vote. But we are often told that it is useless, because the result is always the same, with the FNSEA and the JA in the lead almost everywhere” Morgane Bara noted.

Representatives of agricultural unions in Gard and Hérault came to debate at Midi Libre. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

“An impact on the next six years”

“This hegemony is institutionalized. The system and the voting method mean that these unions remain dominant” added Frédéric Mazer.

“But mobilization is always necessary, the election has an impact on the next six years” supported Rémi Dumas: “Afterwards, to have influence, you have to sit on the instances” he added, somewhat provocatively. Before Christophe Sabatier pointed out: “Farmers are especially disappointed by what has been happening for the past 50 years. The argument of the FNSEA and the JA is that we are heading for a crash. But they have been at the wheel for 50 years, and we are heading straight for it!”

The debate was launched!

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