Panels returned in Côtes-d’Armor: a peaceful method before toughening up your tone

“We wanted to start quietly with this peaceful demonstration, but the mobilization may become tougher in the coming weeks.” With 450 panels returned throughout the Côtes-d’Armor department, the Young Farmers (JA) 22 have been following, for a week, the movement initiated by their colleagues in Tarn at the end of October.

This Monday, November 20, at the House of Agriculture in Plérin, the JA 22 and the Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FDSEA) of Côtes-d’Armor developed the reasons for their anger.

“Farmers and operators cannot, on their small scale, assume the litany of decisions taken by the State,” argues Florian Gaultier, president of JA 22. In question, the preservation of permanent meadows, the regulations on the use phytosanitary products or even the absence of “a vision concerning the agriculture of tomorrow”.

“A purchasing power adjustment variable”

“Farmers are experiencing regulatory burnout,” complains Fabienne Garel, president of the FDSEA. With her colleague from Young Farmers, she is also annoyed by an ever-increasing reliance on imports. “Within three to four years, France will lose its food autonomy,” estimates the president of JA 22.

Finally, both demand “the right to live correctly by being paid correctly and by stopping being a variable for adjusting purchasing power”.

While waiting for a response to their demands, “other panels will be returned at least this week, time to finish the work we have to do on our farms. Then, we will see to carry out other actions,” warns Florian Gaultier.