French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard presented an emergency aid plan on Friday worth more than 1 billion euros to help farms battered by this summer's drought, drawing a mixed response from growers and farming unions.
The centerpiece of the package is the national solidarity indemnification fund, which pays out once a farm's losses reach 30% or 50%, depending on the type of operation. Genevard raised the fund to 520 million euros.
Genevard said that when French agriculture is struck, the nation responds, calling the package a massive effort given the current budget constraints and describing it as the solidarity of all French people. She also promised to speed up advance payments and reimbursements given the urgency of the situation.
Extra Funds for Recovery and Tax Relief
Beyond the solidarity fund, the government has set aside a further 235 million euros to help farms recover, money that will mainly go toward buying hay and compensating farms hit by wildfires.
A separate measure will partially cut property tax on agricultural land, backed by a 300 million euro budget. The source report noted this tax relief will mainly benefit the largest farms, since it counts for little against the rest of the costs faced by operations working tens rather than hundreds of hectares.
The announcements come after what French media have described as a catastrophic summer for agriculture, marked by drought, heatwave and wildfires across the country. An estimated 35,000 farms are already in difficulty.
Farmers Describe Mounting Losses
François Roulan, a dairy farmer at Val d'Ary in Calvados, said his hay stocks were already at least 50% below normal because his cows lacked fodder in pastures hit by the drought. He said milk production had fallen 15% compared with a typical year, meaning he now has to buy in feed at the same time as bringing in far less cash from sales. Roulan put his drought-related losses so far at between 15,000 and 20,000 euros.
Gildas Bernardeau, an organic market gardener in Le Cellier, in the Loire-Atlantique region, said he had been unable to sell 16,000 lettuces this summer. He said the government's effort should be recognised, but questioned what it concretely meant for a small market gardener working a small plot of land, adding that it was hard to know exactly today.
Unions Say Plan Falls Short
The Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA), France's largest farming union, said the plan does not go far enough. Its secretary general, Hervé Lapie, put the sector's total losses at 10 billion euros. He said the union had always accepted that the state would not compensate the full 10 billion, but argued that at least 2 billion euros was needed.
The Confédération paysanne, another farming union, voiced similar disappointment, having hoped for at least 3 billion euros in aid. Its spokesperson, Stéphane Galais, said the government's plan excludes more than 80% of farmers.
