French farmers stepped up their campaign against agricultural policy and animal health rules this week, with protests in south-western France highlighting growing anger over the compulsory slaughter of cattle following outbreaks of lumpy skin disease.
In the town of Agen, in the Lot-et-Garonne department, farmers arrived overnight from Thursday to Friday in around 60 tractors, dumping manure and tyres outside a series of public buildings.
The action was called by agriculture unions Coordination Rurale and Confédération Paysanne, which accuse the authorities of failing to listen to farmers’ concerns.
José Pérez, president of Coordination Rurale’s Lot-et-Garonne branch, warned of an industry on the brink. "We started protesting two years ago. Two years on, nothing has changed," he said.
"Here, 10 percent of farmers are going to file for bankruptcy, representing 500 farms, and 75 percent are in a very difficult financial situation."
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Disease outbreak
The union has branded Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard a “pyromaniac firefighter” over her handling of the crisis linked to lumpy skin disease (LSD), a viral disease that affects cattle but poses no risk to humans.
In the department of Ariège, near the Spanish border, orders to cull cattle provoked clashes on Thursday night.
Law enforcement officers used tear gas to retake control of a farm in the village of Bordes-sur-Arize, where farmers had gathered to block veterinary services from euthanising more than 200 cows following the detection of a case of LSD.
Gendarmes moved in shortly before 11pm, dispersing demonstrators amid fires lit from hay bales and pallets. "The situation is now under control," the Ariège prefecture said shortly before midnight.
Farmers had been mobilised at the site since Wednesday morning, when the outbreak was announced, with at least several hundred people present.
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Preventative measures
Under current rules, slaughter is considered the only effective way to prevent the disease from spreading, and is followed by vaccination campaigns.
The regulations also impose "restricted areas" within a 50 km radius of an outbreak, limiting cattle movements.
In Ariège, of the department’s 33,000 cattle, 3,000 had already been vaccinated last month in areas near the Pyrénées-Orientales, where earlier outbreaks were detected.
Local unions and the Chamber of Agriculture had proposed an alternative approach, including slaughtering only infected animals alongside mass vaccination, but the plan was rejected by the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the neighbouring Hautes-Pyrénées, another herd of around 20 animals was due to be slaughtered on Friday, prompting further mobilisation.
“Attempts to block or gather near farms put all farmers at risk of further spreading the disease,” warned the department’s prefect, Jean Salomon.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, LSD – which appeared in France in June – is “under control”, and discussions have been opened on preventive vaccination.
While the FNSEA farmer's union has warned of potential risks to exports and prices, its president Arnaud Rousseau has now asked for vaccination zones to be extended beyond the current regulated areas.
(with AFP)
