Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, the prefect of the Occitanie region and of Haute-Garonne, has announced a 27 million euro fund to help the region's most financially fragile farms rebuild their cash flow, part of a wider national agricultural emergency plan worth 1.3 billion euros unveiled by Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard.
Rigoulet-Roze, who has held the post since 29 June, set out the details of the regional rollout of the plan in an interview with La Dépêche du Midi's Sophie Ménard, following successive episodes of drought and heatwaves that have battered farms across the region.
Avoiding an economic and human crisis
Rigoulet-Roze said Occitanie, like the rest of France, had gone through a major climate crisis, with drought and heatwaves severely affecting farms. He said the aim was to stop the climate crisis turning into an economic crisis, and a human one. Behind the losses and the figures, he said, are men and women who risk losing the ability to keep working, whom he described as the soldiers of the country's food sovereignty.
A two-pronged plan
Rigoulet-Roze said the plan rests on two pillars. The first compensates farmers for lost yields through several mechanisms, including the national solidarity indemnity (ISN), which covers revenue losses caused by extreme weather, along with exemptions from tax on undeveloped land and from social charges. Other existing measures, including aid for off-road diesel fuel and for fertiliser, have been extended. The second pillar is an agricultural rearmament fund, intended to let the most fragile farms restore their cash flow and prepare for the next growing season.
How much money Occitanie will get
The rearmament fund totals 29.7 million euros for Occitanie, Rigoulet-Roze said, of which 2.7 million euros has been earmarked for the Pyrénées-Orientales département following the fire at Trévillach. Of the remaining 27 million euros, 20 million will be delegated to departmental prefects to distribute close to local needs, with just over 2 million euros going to Haute-Garonne. The other 7 million euros will be kept in reserve to respond to situations that could not have been fully anticipated, he said, adding that the heatwave was continuing in the region.
Who can apply and how the money can be used
Rigoulet-Roze said the sole criterion for eligibility is the financial fragility of the farm, regardless of the sector. He said the goal was to make sure no farmer is left without the means to prepare for the next season. The fund can provide up to 10,000 euros per farm, and the money can be used to buy seed, other inputs or fodder, or to resow pasture, with each farmer deciding how to spend it.
First payments expected in October
Rigoulet-Roze said the intention was not to add administrative complexity, and that the priority was to move as quickly as possible, with first payments expected from the start of October. He said that as soon as the minister made her announcement, officials sought to meet chambers of agriculture and farming organisations, adding that the approach relies on consultation while still needing to be fast and effective.
Farming unions call the plan insufficient
Asked about farming unions who consider the plan inadequate, Rigoulet-Roze said he respected their demands, but that the immediate priority was delivering the aid, with regular progress updates to follow. He said the plan was not limited to the 20 million euro fund, noting that the ISN alone represents 500 million euros nationally, on top of the other measures. He said the overall objective was to restore farms' cash flow and rebuild production.
Asked whether he feared a resurgence of agricultural anger on the roads this winter, Rigoulet-Roze said his role was not to make predictions, but to work efficiently and in line with the needs identified on the ground.
Looking beyond the immediate crisis
Rigoulet-Roze said the plan addresses the emergency, with measures due to be rolled out before the end of the year, but that authorities must also work in parallel on the structural adaptation of agriculture. He said water was a major issue in Occitanie, and that changes in farming practices and crops, along with hydraulic projects, need to be supported. He said this could not be decreed, but had to be built together with farmers.
