Anger of farmers: “We are walking on our heads with untenable standards”, exasperates Rémi Dumas

Rémi Dumas s'insurge que la France importe des produits qui ne respectent pas les normes imposées à l'agriculture française. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

National vice president of Young Farmers, Hérault resident Rémi Dumas, winemaker and sheep breeder, explains the weight of administrative work in a country that wants to be the most virtuous in Europe.

This is the meaning of all these town signs overturned at the entrance to the towns: "This means that the ;we are walking on our heads with untenable standards and the over-transpositions of French regulations which go beyond the already very strict European rules". This speech is the one given by Jérôme Despey, Monday evening during the greetings of the president of the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture and vice-president of the FNSEA.

Agriculteurs : « On a trop tendance à parler d'agriculture sans les principaux intéressés : nous les agriculteurs qui vivons au quotidien les aléas climatiques mais aussi les solutions que nous pouvons y apporter », dénonce @RemiDumas34. #SensPublic pic.twitter.com/tljKcZAZEm

— Public Sénat (@publicsenat) January 23, 2024

This overtransposition is the one that opposes peasant common sense. The one which weighs on the entire agricultural world and which adds to the already very busy days of farmers. Rémi Dumas is vice-president of Young Farmers (JA). He is a winegrower in Hérault and, more recently, a sheep breeder. He faces the excess of standards: "But in France, we have the unfortunate habit of wanting to be at the top of the class and to be more binding again". Whether it concerns doses on phytosanitary products, on product applications, on crop rotation…hellip;"With each new European standard, France will tighten constraints", assures the young farmer.

Avoid unfair competition

The most sensitive example concerns the use of glyphosate re-approved in Europe for a period of ten years but whose use is more restricted in France than in other countries. other countries of the European Union. The same goes for certain chemical agents such as CMRs. certain molecules are authorized in Europe but "France has chosen to ban them all. This means that to treat the plants, you will have to pass five or six times with the tractor where, in other countries, they will only pass once" . Which leads to additional costs and "pollution. What we are asking is: no ban in the solution. If we ban it, we must offer profitable and effective alternatives."

Ça fait des mois qu'on tire la sonnette d'alarme et qu'on demande des réponses, aujourd'hui les réponses tardent et la colère est montée, nous avons besoin d’actes » pic.twitter.com/wROGZ8cF29

— Jeunes Agriculteurs (@JeunesAgri) January 23, 2024

According to the JA, significant resources must be put into research and development to enable these developments. "It should be noted that we are not pro-chemical, we are the primary consumers of our products. We cherish the earth which is our working tool". Rémi Dumas wants "a normative break" so that farmers can take stock without having a new standard imposed on them every day. "And as France is the most virtuous in agricultural matters, we ask Europe that other countries be subject to the same restrictions" to avoid unfair competition. Because according to him "we are importing agriculture that we do not want in France. We're walking on our heads".

Administrative tasks: 25% of working time

For the young farmer, regulatory and administrative tasks represent "a quarter of our working time. We often pay to get help because these are often very complex cases. And if we make mistakes, we are cut off from aid and even fined".

Sign of the sometimes ubiquitous character, "When we receive aid, it is imposed on us. So you have to send a document to the tax authorities. Since we have been talking about simplification, it has become more complex each time". Aid on irrigation must obtain the approval of the DDTM before this department of the prefecture sends it back to the farmer and the latter sends it back to FranceAgriMer… "There are so many formalities to complete that we often get overwhelmed, me first".

The most glaring example concerns GNR, non-road diesel used in tractors, purchased at the normal price but which benefits from reduced taxation, subject to making a declaration in in due form at the end of the year with the administration which in return makes a reimbursement. But bad news for farmers, the French state has announced that taxes on GNR should increase… Enough to add to the anger that is not about to fade away. ;nbsp;

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