Angry, farmers will march on Toulouse

They are determined to move up a gear! After having carried out symbolic actions almost everywhere in rural areas in recent weeks where they methodically put road signs upside down, the Young Farmers (JA) decided to march on the city with a large regional gathering scheduled for this Wednesday November 22, in Toulouse, to make their grievances heard. The tone is firm. They want to put an end to the continued increase in their costs and the inconsistency of public and European policies “We are walking on our heads,” protests Thomas Klunker, co-general secretary of the union in Haute-Garonne. We are making a plan to encourage farmers to produce proteins, soya, peas, but at the same time we have an increase in taxes and restrictions linked to irrigation, he notes. And what about the end of the advantage of agricultural diesel when no alternative is possible, given that electric tractors are not yet very well developed and far too expensive?

Organic in an impasse

Thomas Klunker is also worried about the organic sector “without visibility on demand” where many farms are bankrupt. As for the common agricultural policy (CAP), he considers that it is rather “an instrument of surveillance and control”. The opportunity to also hammer home worrying realities for the agricultural world in our country. “Today, agriculture in France is three people retiring for an installation and land disappearing at great speed,” recalls the trade unionist. This is the equivalent of the area of ​​a department every 10 years.” For young farmers, there is an urgent need to put in place a long-term, visionary policy to get out of the current impasse. “We talk about food sovereignty, but farmers have never had as many regulations as today and without concrete solutions,” continues Thomas Klunker. For example, we are prohibited from using phytosanitary products without equivalent alternatives.” Will they be heard?