Farmers are also affected by these measures. - SICCOLI PATRICK / SIPA

This year again, the agricultural world is facing the consequences of the lack of rain. Drought-affected farmers and herders will be able to receive compensation for “calamities”. They should also benefit from other emergency cash aid such as certain tax breaks, Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie announced on Friday.

"We are taking exceptional measures to support farmers in the face of repeated episodes of drought", declared on Franceinfo the minister who also confirmed that a "significant part" of the agricultural component of the recovery plan of the The economy to be announced on August 25 will be devoted to “adapting our crops to climate change”. "For all the departments which may be subject to the agricultural calamity", the minister indicated that he would be "very vigilant" so that the farmers concerned can benefit from it.

Help to ask for at the end of the drought

"When is this happening? At the end of the drought episode, we see the consequences of reduced yields and we make these declarations (…) which then give rise to financial support, ”said the Minister without giving the amount of the budget. In emergency measures, in addition to the green light for the use of fallows to feed livestock and the shift in sowing dates imposed by the common agricultural policy (CAP), already announced, the minister mentioned the advance payment of CAP “higher” down payments, and “land tax relief paid by farmers” for the worst-hit regions.

Earlier this week, the president of the agricultural union Modef Pierre Thomas asked for the activation of the national agricultural risk management fund (FNGRA) to compensate farmers exposed to drought damage. The president of the FNSEA Christiane Lambert had also asked for load reductions or even staggered bank repayments for agricultural businesses.

Aid for the future

“Beyond these very short-term agronomic and financial measures, it is above all necessary to prepare for the future, this is the objective of the recovery plan where a substantial part of the agricultural component of the recovery plan will be devoted to adaptation of our agriculture to the effects of climate change ”, added the Minister.

In this regard, he cited three examples: financing the purchase of protective materials against hail, financing research to find seeds more suited to climate change, and improving resource management, in particular in water. "After the drought, there are very violent storms, hail: today, we have materials to protect against these phenomena, which are expensive, we must be able to finance them to support our farmers", added the Minister who is visiting two farms in Haute-Garonne this Friday.

For water management, Julien Denormandie judged “absolutely not normal” that a project to build a water retention basin could “take 8 to 10 years”. He referred to “simplification measures” to be undertaken “in consultation” in order to avoid “conflicts of use”.

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  • Society
  • Drought
  • Julien Denormandie
  • Agriculture