Every time they want to be heard, they take out the tractors to parade around town. This Wednesday, the tradition was respected in Brittany with several hundred farmers who left their countryside and rode their racing cars to converge on the different prefectures of the region. Their target this time was not mass distribution but the administrations which “make them go around in circles.” » In Rennes, the convoy first headed to the Brittany regional council before reaching the regional headquarters of the Regional Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Draaf).
In the parking lot where manure and straw have been dumped, we chat and mess around among colleagues, some even having brought back the pack of beers. But dismay and anger can also be seen on their faces. “We have the best job in the world but I won’t push my children to do it,” says Yannick. Breeder of Blondes d’Aquitaine in Sens-de-Bretagne, he fumes against the paperwork he has to encounter every day. “Every morning I wake up wondering what mail will be in the mailbox this time,” he explains. We have to fill out files all the time and there are always pieces missing. They are demoralizing us. »
Food sovereignty and foreign competition
A sign hung on a tractor sums up the morale of the troops: “The land is plowed with know-how, not a computer. » Established for barely two months, Frédéric, organic milk producer in Bourgbarré, discovered the joys of administration. “The regulations keep changing with new standards each time,” he laments. This administrative responsibility is a full-time job. » Recently, farmers learned that they will soon be prohibited from turning over their permanent meadows to transform them into crops. “We have already made a lot of efforts but we always find ways to get in our way in the streets,” complains Kevin, a young breeder based in Plélan-le-Grand.
The question of glyphosate, whose authorization has just been renewed for ten years within the European Union, is also part of the debates. “It doesn’t make anyone happy to use it,” assures Yannick. But there is currently no solution so we have no choice. “. More generally, all the farmers present are wondering about their future and the meaning of their profession. “Do we still want farmers in France?” asks Cyrille Herbert, co-president of the Young Farmers of Ille-et-Vilaine. It makes you wonder, so much double talk is being given to us. We are being told about food sovereignty and at the same time we are signing a free trade agreement with New Zealand which will flood us with its beef and sheep meat. »
“If we all close up shop, who will be there to feed you? »
A dairy farmer in Saint-Brice-en-Coglès, he observes the distress of his young colleagues every day. “Some have been there for barely five or six years and they already want to stop, it’s very serious,” he emphasizes. “But if we all close up shop, who will be there to feed you? », engages Nicolas, particularly upset. “We are asked every time to produce better but consumers also look at their wallets and often rush for foreign crap in supermarkets,” he thunders.
Next to him, another young breeder appears even more upset. “We have a rope around our neck and we just keep tightening it,” he says, jaded but still passionate: “Luckily I still love my job, contact with animals and the earth. That’s what gets me up every morning. Because otherwise, I would have thrown everything away a long time ago because there are so many things that disgust me. »