French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau presented a series of measures on Tuesday to ensure the crisis-ridden livestock sector regains its long-lost food sovereignty in almost all sectors.
Visiting Europe’s largest livestock summit near Clermont-Ferrand on Tuesday, Fesneau spoke to farmer and industry representatives to show his support to a sector that continues to face significant hardship.
“The aim is to regain our food sovereignty, which we have lost over the last few decades”, said Fesneau, adding, “We are no longer sovereign in almost all animal sectors”.
Of all the meat currently consumed in France, almost 30% is imported. At the same time, France has lost 800,000 cows in seven years.
In his speech to the sector, Fesneau laid out several measures, including a communication plan to restore the image of livestock farming.
“Producers want recognition of their role in defending sovereignty, but also in storing carbon in grasslands, opening up landscapes, preserving biodiversity, etc”, he stressed.
“We need livestock farming, we need breeders,” he added.
Fesneau also stressed the importance of farmers’ incomes, calling on the sector to trust the recent laws that aim to pay farmers more fairly and protect them from distributors and manufacturers even though year-on-year inflation for food has reached a very high 9.6% in September.
“Farmers must not be the adjustment variable for the strategies of big groups,” he said.
He also promised “fiscal measures” such as tax credits and said other fiscal instruments would help farmers, especially livestock farmers, buy up their farms.
On bringing the sector up to scratch with EU climate targets, Fesneau confirmed that part of the funds destined for industry decarbonisation would be used to encourage less polluting practices.
“We need to support livestock farmers in a strategy of decarbonisation […] The transition is not something we need to do against them. It’s something we need to do with them,” said Fesneau.
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease
However, while the livestock sector gathered near Clermont-Ferrand, France reported the first trace of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). So far, there have been 19 outbreaks on cattle farms in south-west France.
While France had to put its exports on hold for several days, Fesneau confirmed that trade with two of the main importers of French cattle was slowly picking up, with Spain accepting imports and ongoing discussions with Italy.
“I’m rather optimistic about these issues”, he said.
With climate change posing an increasing risk to the sector, Fesneau also announced France’s commitment to eradicating livestock diseases in the future, with €20 million to promote prevention practices.
Between 2005 and 2020, the number of specialised livestock farms in Europe fell by 45%, while the number of mixed farms dropped by 60%. (Hugo Struna | Euractiv.fr)
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Source: euractiv.com
