When an association helps protect land and secure agricultural jobs

Véronique Perdriole and Annie Dalban, TDL referents, alongside the operator. Midi Libre – JEROME MOUILLOT

Sébastien Pioch installed 5 greenhouses on the plot to ensure annual production and sustain jobs. Midi Libre – JEROME MOUILLOT

On the 1.5 hectare plot, 2,000 m2 are occupied by greenhouses. Midi Libre – JEROME MOUILLOT

In Aniane, Terre de Liens (TDL) acquired the plot operated by Sébastien Pioch. The owner wanted to sell but the farmer could not buy. The TDL movement helps protect agricultural land through a collective and citizen purchase.

The one and a half hectare plot is rooted in the heart of a prestigious wine-growing region where the vineyards of Grange des pères, Clos de la Barthassade, Daumas Gassac and Château Capion are expressed. But on the edge of the Canal de Gignac, in Aniane, Sébastien Pioch does not concoct precious elixirs. He humbly works the land to: “feed the population, that's what I like”, he says with a broad and generous smile and an accent in which subtle Aveyron inflections emerge… Based in Aniane for 13 years, the market gardener sells his products to more than 300 families, at the markets of Aniane or Grabels*. But, a few months ago, he almost threw in the towel. The owner of the plot he was working on a lease wanted to sell for 3 years. But the farmer could not buy. “The loan repayments on purchase are greater than the lease. This has a terrible impact on farms. If I had gone into debt for the land, I would have lost the relative comfort that it had taken me 10 years to achieve. I might as well stop everything” , he analyzes. Pensive, he continues: “fortunately: I had heard about Terres de liens…”

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“My goal is to secure employment”

That's where “the alternative” proposed by the TDL federation of associations came into play. “And I didn't imagine that things would go so smoothly”, he still wonders. Because, after a “very precise inventory. We worked with the commune of Aniane and the ASA of the Canal de Gignac to secure access to water in the long term. Terre de Liens acquired the land. It will forever be preserved as agricultural land and cultivated organically. Terre de Liens can buy, as long as there is a project leader”, recall Annie Dalban and Véronique Perdriole, TDL referents on this farm. Land “sanctuarized” for organic farming that Sébastien Pioch can continue to cultivate, still paying a rural lease but with the assurance of a perennial plot “that will not be subject to land speculation” and a risk of artificialization of the soil. A visibility which allows the company to ensure the salary of three people in total. Production, direct sales, mechanics, management…“Everyone has their role, we are very complementary. My goal is to secure employment”, explains the boss of the Jardins d’Hérault who has installed 2,000 m2 of greenhouses on the plot to ensure market gardening production all year round.

The Aniane market takes place on Thursday mornings, while the Grabels market is held on Saturdays.

A collective purchase to “grow farms”

Terre de liens acquires agricultural land thanks to solidarity savings, donations and legacies with the aim of ensuring the agricultural and nutritional vocation of the land and guaranteeing peasant and organic practices. It is possible to subscribe to Terre de Liens shares to contribute to the actions of the federation of associations with 20,000 shareholders. https://soutien.terredeliens.org/

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