Vivoin (France) (AFP)

Seeing his cows "living in the dust" saddens him: breeder in Vivoin, in Sarthe, Arnaud Doguet is used to dry summers, but not to the lack of fodder which forces him to feed his animals in full sun with hay cool while waiting for the rain.

The drought has turned its meadows into "doormats". "It's dry land. It hurts your heart to see my cows living in the dust": while the drought has gripped the western department for three weeks now, this 40-year-old Sarthe breeder met by the 'AFP expresses its dismay.

"Yes, the drought affects us on the fodder stocks", explains this tall brown man with a sporty figure, who owns about fifty Limousin beef cows, calves, Loué chickens and produces a little grain.

For lack of rain and fresh grass, like his colleagues, Arnaud Doguet had no other choice than to start feeding his cattle on July 15. "We started a month earlier and there is still no water in prospect", explains the boss of this 80 hectare farm taken over from his father six years ago.

Despite heavy rains in June and a winter "with its feet in the water", the silty and clayey soil of his farm is dry: according to him, only 50 mm of precipitation has fallen since March.

Monday, the prefecture of Sarthe took measures to restrict the use of water for all users and farmers asking "everyone to maintain attention to water savings".

In the department, two watersheds are on alert and five others on heightened alert.

Without pond, borehole or installation, every morning Arnaud Doguet opens his taps wide to water his animals with two tonnes of water transported in bins. Water billed at 1.43 euros per m3 which weighs on its budget. "In the morning, everyday life is to feed the animals, we go around".

- Fear of a price collapse -

So to save the hay bales for this winter, the breeder gives them a mixture of flour and hay wrapped under tarpaulin, more humid and rich in protein. "I at least have the advantage of having stock", consoles the operator.

Proud to work on the top of the range of meat, he also knows he is on borrowed time. And fears that the drought will force some to "sell" part of their livestock to feed the remaining animals, with a real risk of price collapse in the fall.

Is this too much drought? While strong heat is announced on Friday, with up to 39 ° in the Sarthe, Arnaud Doguet dreams of investing in a drip, a watering installation that would allow him to keep his meadows green all year round. , but he would like "help".

The Confédération paysanne recognizes "that the period is starting to be difficult". "We had a fairly exceptional month of June, with very good crops of grass in the spring", but now there is a risk that the land will end up "completely toasted", admits Charlotte Kerglonou-Mellier of the confederation of Ille-et-Vilaine.

"It is not worse than usual but it is the large cereal farms, in particular corn, which will suffer", estimates the trade unionist, who owns an organic farm with about fifty Prim'Holstein dairy cows and 6 ha of corn to feed them.

The union which campaigns for "equitable management of water resources", rather than basins, says above all to work on "the autonomy of breeders".

And to point out that avenues for reflection and subsidies exist to help them cope with these periods: reduce the livestock in relation to the forage area, install hedges with the bocage plan, develop the interior of farms to provide freshness to animals.

© 2020 AFP