“A solid”, “a pillar”, “the face of loyalty”… the irresistible rise of Jérôme Despey to the top of agriculture

Modeste, courageux et pugnace, Jérôme Despey s'apprête à mener un nouveau grand combat. – Marc Ginot

A winemaker very early from the age of 18, the Héraultais climbed the ranks one by one to become national president of the Young Farmers then number 2 of the FNSEA. At 55, he is a candidate for management of the prestigious International Agricultural Show in Paris which opens its doors next Saturday.

What is striking when we meet Jérôme Despey and his irresistible rise is that it is forged from a great deal of modesty, mixed with courage and pugnacity.

Modesty first, that which prevents him from putting himself forward and constantly favoring "the collective, the agricultural world". He always repeats that what he does is for others…hellip; Jérôme Despey brushes aside the flattery. Very often when he enters a room, his friends tease him: "Hey, there's the Minister of Agriculture", have- they used to chamber him. "I absolutely do not have this ambition", he breathes with a smile. We wouldn't swear to it…

He took over the family vineyards at the age of 18

This modesty is also because this "little one from Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues must have remained, the one that I have seen born and that I saw grow", smiles the mayor of his Hérault village Yvon Pellet. Jérôme will remain the little one of the village: "I’was elected with his father Jean-Luc in 1977. We have been friends for a very long time with Magalie, his mother". Yvon Pellet speaks about it with pride: "We organized a reception at the town hall when he was elected national president of Young Farmers. Jérôme, it's a lot of pride but above all, a lot of affection".

On the courage side, Jérôme Despey had to come to terms with it, reluctantly. From the age of 18. When he suddenly has to stop his studies in final year while he mourns an uncle who left far too early and who, with his grandfather, took care of the family vineyard. A terrible shock for the Despeys and a tough choice for young Jérôme: "I had the choice, either I took over the farm, or the vines were uprooted", he remembers with pain.

Jacques Graveageal this "spiritual father"

He will take back the land. He will need to pass a BPA, an accelerated professional agricultural certificate. From then on, he will never brake again.
Everything comes together quite quickly. Learning viticulture and its vicissitudes then entering agricultural unionism which he owes to his "spiritual father", Jacques Gravegeal who very early on spotted the brilliant young man . We had to insist because he was reluctant to commit. We had to put pressure on him", remembers the strong man of Hérault viticulture for half a century.

Jérôme Despey became departmental president of the Young Farmers, at the departmental then regional level before taking the reins of the national union from 2002 to 2004. When Jacques Graveageal asked him to take over as president of the chamber of ;rsquo;agriculture of Hérault, Jérôme Despey did not try to negotiate: "He knows that when I insist, I obtain what that I want", smiles the president of the IGP Pays d’Oc.

The need "to return to the earth"

After the national union experience, "I needed to return to the land to restructure the vineyard and spend time with my people& ;quot;, remembers Jérôme Despey. But in 2005, Jean-Michel Lemétayer, emblematic president of the FNSEA (who died in 2013), returned to seek out Jérôme Despey so that he could establish links with the wine industry. Jérôme Despey signs and once again climbs the ranks of the National Federation of Agricultural Operators' Unions. He became its general secretary during the mandate of Christiane Lambert who said of him: "If loyalty had a face, it would be that of Jérôme, he is a hard worker but he is also extremely sensitive and this is a strength for this outstanding negotiator".

Today number 2 behind the current boss of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau knows that he can count on something solid, he's a pillar, especially when things are rocking. It embodies foolproof reliability. We saw it during the farmers' anger, he said. The cereal grower insists: "What he has done for viticulture is unprecedented. He obtained two distillation campaigns and a freeze plan that he negotiated step by step, without ever giving up. He is different because he has a long-term vision". That’s for pugnacity.

"Respect my balance"

At almost 55 years old, Jérôme Despey wants to humbly continue his task: "I want to be useful", he says . But he's armed for a fight if necessary.

In addition to his multiple mandates, he is also a father who he knows is a little too absent. "I do my best to respect my balance, especially with my family. I know that my commitments have always weighed a lot", he said. He spends a large part of his rare free weekends with his children: Romain, 25 years old civil engineering engineer specializing in renewable energies and his daughter, Mathilde, 22 years old business school student: "It’is not a sure thing for the succession but you never know, they are very attached to this land and always tell me that we must keep it". For the transfer of the 22 hectares of vines, we will see later. Jérôme Despey knows above all that he can count on Christine, his wife, his balance: "A great lady, as always behind a great man", assures Jacques Gravegeal as a connoisseur. "What is certain is that I will hand over to devote myself to mine", when the time to retire comes, d&rsquo ;in about ten years, promises Jérôme Despey.

"I cannot accept the decline of agriculture"

But until then, he has a new big fight to fight. He is aiming for a very prestigious position: president of Ceneca, the organization that owns the Paris International Agricultural Show. The event which celebrates its 60th edition. Its current president, Jean-Luc Poulain, has decided to hand over the reins. The only known candidate to date, Jérôme Despey is “two ambitions”: to give future prospects to agriculture, because I cannot resign myself to its decline, and to ensure that each farmer can live with dignity from the price of their production".

In the campaign to become the boss of the largest farm in France, the rather right-wing winegrower was affectionately treated as "little Sarkozy& quot; by Georges Frêche then at the height of his glory and who absolutely wanted to meet him. Jérôme Despey knows how to navigate the political backwater and has been able to negotiate with all the ministers and all the presidents since "Jacques Chriac. We remember, he tried to follow him to Paris and Chirac with his long legs was followed by Jérôme who was almost running behind him", Yvon Pellet still laughs. It was a year of Agricultural Show.

The election at the Salon is scheduled for the end of March. No question of declaring victory, surely the modesty of Jérôme Despey. But his courage and pugnacity are never really far away…

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