Arthur de Laborde / Photo credit: NICOLAS GUYONNET / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 2:33 p.m., January 24, 2024

Among the many demands of farmers, that of the overdose of standards which pollute their daily lives, they say, comes up very regularly.

Operators are in fact subject to a certain number of constraints, sometimes very different and contradictory.

In France, it is impossible to cultivate a single one of the 27 million hectares of agricultural land without being subject to a standard.

This is what farmers are denouncing, who have been making their anger heard for several days across the country.

Directives, laws, decrees and other regulations govern farmers' daily lives. 

So, for example, fields can be covered by ten different zonings: "Natura 2,000" zones, water catchment zones, bird directives or even nitrate vulnerability zones, with different rules each time. which sometimes contradict each other.

In most cases, geotagged photos must be sent to the administration to prove that standards are being respected. 

Installing a simple hedge can become a headache

Satellites even monitor farms to check that everything complies with the CAP, the common agricultural policy.

Another example: planting a simple hedge, to reduce wind, erosion or excess rain, can be a real headache since it is subject to 14 different laws. 

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As a result, farmers spend a lot of time doing paperwork.

A survey by the Iref think tank estimates that on average, an operator spends 9 hours per week filling out forms, or 20% of their time.

Which is equivalent to a full day of work.