• The Agricultural Show, which opened on February 26, is preparing to close its doors, and its exhibitors, to pack up their stands.

  • "Overall, agricultural and food issues are not very present in the debates of the presidential election", notes Mathieu Courgeau, dairy farmer in Vendée and president of the platform Pour une autre PAC, present at the Salon de l'agriculture to carry the voice of its members. 

  • According to him, the CAP reform, which will apply from January 2023, will continue to favor large farms.

It feels a little spleen in the aisles – not really crowded – of the Parc des expositions, in Paris.

The Agricultural Show, which opened on February 26 after a year's absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is preparing to close its doors, and exhibitors are packing up their stands, no doubt with a bit heavy.

The culmination of the presidential election every five years, the 2022 Vintage Agricultural Show will have been a tad different from its predecessors, obscured in the media by the war in Ukraine and marked by the publication of a new report. of the IPCC on global warming, more alarming and even more worrying than the previous one.

Difficult, in this context, to invite the financial and ecological problems of small French farmers to the table of the electoral campaign.

“Overall, agricultural and food subjects are not very present in the debates”, regrets Mathieu Courgeau, dairy farmer in Vendée and president of the platform “For another PAC”.

A strong need to adapt “to the climate context”

Launched in 2017, this platform, which brings together 45 organizations of farmers and citizens in favor of an overhaul of the common agricultural policy (CAP), was formed as a collective on the occasion of the presidential election.

Renamed “We produce, we eat, we decide”, the structure had set itself the task of raising awareness, during the fair, of the candidates for the presidential election about agricultural issues.

"We, small farmers, have a very strong need today to adapt our farms to the new climatic context", explains the Vendéen.

Direct victims of the effects of global warming and the decline of biodiversity, smallholders also have to deal with recurring financial difficulties.

And despite a mandatory five-year review, it is not the common agricultural policy (CAP), on which a good part of their income depends, which seems to be able to reverse the trend.

This is evidenced by the report by the association Terre de liens, published on February 22, which figures the reduction in the number of farmers in ten years in France at 100,000, as well as the latest figures from INSEE published in 2021, which identify 18 .1% of farmers still living below the poverty line.

Bringing the voice of the "forgotten of the CAP"

“Today, we have a CAP that favors farmers who own large farms.

The more hectares we have, the more agricultural subsidies we receive.

This does not encourage the development of smaller but durable models that are in accordance with more environmentally friendly practices,” says Mathieu Courgeau.

The CAP reform is due to come into force in January 2023 and, according to the breeder, the current system of public policies would even tend to create "forgotten CAPs".

In particular some market gardeners who grow organically on small areas and therefore receive almost no aid.

Among the candidates for the Elysée Palace, the question of food, agroecology and agricultural issues in general seems to be very present.

And despite the context, most of the contenders for the Elysée went to meet exhibitors and farmers to discuss environmental and economic issues with them.

Only Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not wish to make the trip to Porte de Versailles, judging that the Agricultural Show “promotes a mode of agriculture that is not ours”.

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  • Agricultural Show 2022

  • Agriculture

  • 20 minute video

  • Presidential election 2022

  • Elections

  • Planet

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