Angry farmers: “It’s on the Millau side that the action is happening”

magictr | January 31, 2024 | Business | No Comments

Clément Chayriguès, spokesperson for the FDSEA and Rémi Agrinier for the JA. A.D.

Clément Chayriguès, porte-parole de la FDSEA et Rémi Agrinier pour les JA. AD

À l'appel de la FDSEA et des JA, près de 200 agriculteurs du Sud-Aveyron ont épluché les supermarchés du territoire pour dénoncer le manque de clarté sur l'origine et le prix des articles en rayons.

At a time when Prime Minister Attal was delivering his general policy speech to Parliament, farmers from South Aveyron visited the shelves of supermarkets in the sector for a new show of force.

After the convocation of Aveyron parliamentarians in Rodez and the union action at E. Leclerc in Villefranche-de-Rouergue yesterday, "it’is on the Millau side that the action is happening" announced the Young Farmers and the FDSEA joined by more than 150 farmers for a new operation aimed at controlling the prices and origins of certain products.

"We had already come 3 weeks ago to explain that the price of milk at 84 cents was not good. We come back today and this same milk is priced at 81 cents… At that price, we can't pay the producer, it's not possible~, deplores Rémi Agrinier for the JA who always wants more transparency on the margins.

"The accounts unfortunately remain very opaque. We therefore do not know who makes the maximum margins. The industrialist, the distributor, both. On the other hand, we know that in these conditions, at these prices, the producer is not paid. This is what makes us moan. Consumers are already making an effort, manufacturers and distributors must also make an effort."

Clément Chayriguès, spokesperson for the FDSEA and Rémi Agrinier for the JA. A.D.

"We want more transparency"

"With the Egalim law, the money given by consumers on the product had to go back to the producers, complete Clément Chayriguès, spokesperson for the FDSEA. It is clear, for example on milk, that the money is not coming down. Between 2021 and 2023, semi-skimmed milk increased by 21 cents per liter. Of these 21 cents, only 8.2 went to farmers… Commissions must look into this. Allow us to know where the margins are going… We want more clarity."

Highly studied yesterday, the dairy sections were not the only ones to be carefully scrutinized by the 150 demonstrators of the day. "We found products of French origin, it's very good, there are no worries, these are products that fit well, there's ;#39;there is no problem, lists the representative of the JA. Next to the broccoli we have EU origin, admit that it's very vague. President butter, if we look behind the packaging we have a beautiful map of France, but the origin of the cream which is included in the composition is again European… Same for the chicken…"

Gathering in Rodez today

So many examples gleaned here and there from the shelves of the Leclerc de Creissels brand or later from those of the Auchan store which demonstrate that farmers' path towards greater clarity is still long. Farmers unconvinced by "the communication exercise" of the Prime Minister.

"The issue of generational renewal was not mentioned. While Marc Fesneau's agricultural orientation law has become an Arlesian law for several months", argues the FDSEA. Nothing about breeding has been announced either, even though the sector has been experiencing crises of vocations, prices, markets for several years…&quot ;

"The subject of imports does not come down to the refusal of Mercosur either, as the Prime Minister wanted people to believe. However, nothing has been said about the other agreements currently under discussion, nothing about the mirror clauses that we have been demanding for
years, complete Stéphane Desplas, dairy sheep breeder in Roquefort who plans today with others to reach the Aveyron prefecture for a new big day of mobilization to which the & ;quot;Aveyron farm" is widely invited.