The freezing temperatures expected again this week, after the freezing episode of the last few days, will have repercussions on the consumer, estimates Europe 1 Guillaume Cabot, vice-president of the Federation of young farmers.

In what proportions?

"It is still too early to assess the damage," he replies, hoping that part of the fruit production can be saved. 

INTERVIEW

"There are very few effective tools to combat freezing."

The observation, made at the microphone of Europe 1 by Bernard Farges, winemaker and president of the Interprofessional Council of Bordeaux Wine, also applies to agriculture.

While a new episode of cold is looming this week, the vines but also the production of fruit and vegetables are threatened.

And solutions such as straw fires and candles used to warm the earth appear "a little archaic" to operators. 

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Most operators are not insured

For all the farms concerned, the economic consequences are the same.

"These succession of brutal climatic events are difficult for companies", deplores Bernard Farges.

"A business cannot withstand two out of four or five years with disasters and no harvest."

"Today, there are farms which are 100% frozen", abounds Guillaume Cabot, vice-president of the Federation of young farmers, also questioned by Europe 1. Citing in particular the example of arboriculture, "with productions specific to a territory ", the latter is worried about the future harvests of apricots, cherries, peaches or even apples.

A situation all the more dramatic as the vast majority of farmers are not insured.

"This has an economic cost on production, and ultimately, in the valuation of the fruit, it cannot be taken into account in order to be competitive."

"A lost market is often taken by imports"

Will this dramatic situation reverberate through to the consumer?

Yes, according to the vice-president of the Federation of Young Farmers.

"There will be a consequence on the production of fruit and what the French will find on the shelves," he says.

"And there will be a clear impact on the price, that's for sure. After that, today, it is still too early to assess the damage."

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Beyond our purses, Guillaume Cabot insists on the importance for producers not to completely disappear from the stalls, still hoping that some farmers "manage to add value even 25 to 30% of their production".

"Because today, a lost market is often taken by imports."