A farmer treats a field near houses.
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PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP
The town hall of Fors will compensate a farmer of 450 euros per year so that he no longer spreads pesticides near the municipal school.
A first in France.
Can this financial agreement set a precedent?
For the agricultural sector, this remains a solution "at the margin" and "for very specific cases".
Without any real public policy on the subject, we must also deal with the technical complexities of such assistance, such as the case in Deux-Sèvres.
450 euros per year.
This is the amount that a farmer from Fors in Deux-Sèvres will receive for not spreading pesticides over an area of 4,000m² in one of his fields.
Why ?
Because this plot is located along the municipal school.
This is the first time that a financial agreement of this type has been made in France according to the mayor of this town of 1,800 souls.
Alain Canteau is at the initiative of this one: "I am not an environmentalist of the first hour, besides I am without label [political] but we cannot let that happen because we can see that there is is a danger to children and the public authorities do nothing.
"
"It is not a question of shouting haro at the farmers, not at all even, he continues, but it is simply a question of finding solutions together".
For that, we must be able to count on the collaboration of all parties.
And first and foremost the owner of the land, Christophe Pasquier.
“I have always been careful but the pressure and the gaze is always stronger on us.
It was important to do it and it could be financially interesting, ”explains the man who will now leave a 30-meter border fallow along the school building (ie 10 meters more than the 20 meters imposed by law) .
Concrete help for the farmer
Under these conditions, it seemed completely normal to Alain Canteau to compensate the cereal producer for his operating loss.
To justify this, he takes the example of the financial assistance that a motorist can have when buying a cleaner and more ecological car, “it is the same for Mr. Pasquier because he gives up part of his crops for the common good and in addition, he is asked to continue to maintain this area.
Now the whole question is whether this agreement can set a precedent?
Christophe Pasquier's field behind the school in Fors.
- Screen capture / Google Maps
Since then, the mayor of Fors has in any case received many letters of congratulations for this initiative.
Colleagues have also asked him for some information even if he admits to being disappointed by the lack of reactions from the association of mayors of France.
He hopes that this agreement will "make children".
"It is an interesting idea which goes in the direction of what one asks, recognizes the Confédération Paysanne, that is to say a concrete support to the exit of the pesticides in particular on the financial level.
There, we are in the concrete with this help.
After that will not replace a public policy… ”
A solution only for very specific cases ...
Not sure anyway that farmers are very fond of a systematization of this agreement.
As Christophe Pasquier points out, "we must not mix things up, yes it is a solution for very specific cases like mine, but it is not at all a solution for our profession on a large scale and over the long term. term.
It remains very difficult for him and his colleagues to do without pesticides, while recalling that the compensation will never be able to cover all the losses of farms.
Moreover in his personal case, this compensation rounded up to the next figure by the town hall, to thank him also for his good will, just covers the losses and the year-round maintenance of this border of 30 meters according to his statements.
This is also one of the problems with this solution.
How to set the price of compensation?
The operating loss can vary enormously from year to year depending on the price of grain, for example.
The farmer can be a winner one year if he has fallen since he will always receive the same amount and losing the following three years because the price will have only increased compared to the base price.
As is often the case today, such an agreement ultimately relies on everyone's good will.
And yet the State has not planned to put its own to it for the moment.
Technical complexity and lack of long-term public policy
Indeed, Alain Canteau encountered a technical difficulty during the compensation process.
His town hall could not directly pay this aid to Christophe Pasquier.
According to the mayor, it is quite simply prohibited by law: “If the prefect was in principle favorable to this agreement, he retested it.
Only regions can pay this type of aid.
The city council had to find a solution thanks to the collaboration of the parents of the students.
He will increase the subsidy of their association so that it subsequently compensates the farmer while knowing that this money comes directly from the budget of the town hall.
"Once again, the state is failing," he concludes.
If this may seem technical, it is proof that this type of agreement is exceptional and remains very complicated to set up without the kindness of all parties.
For his part, Nicolas Girod, the spokesperson for the Confédération Paysanne recalls that "we only push the problem a little further, a few meters from the school, but that is not why it is settled and in a way, we invisible the more global issue of the release of pesticides for children and the farmer.
"For him, we must never forget the latter" because his health also suffers every day and today he is offered no public policy on the subject with strong measures.
This agreement is interesting but at the margin.
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