From our special correspondent in Cournon-d’Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme)
“So there, we are in full agricultural debt”: in the middle of the mountain of machines and tools, each more gleaming than the other, the delegation of deputies from France insoumise present at the Livestock Summit in Cournon-d Auvergne, next to Clermont-Ferrand, is in the midst of a culture shock. While in 2022, in his program, Jean-Luc Mélenchon stated the objective of all-organic French agriculture in 2050, here, we are more in the realm of agro-industry. The Summit is the largest European livestock exhibition.
Marianne Maximi, MP for the constituency, Catherine Couturier, MP for neighboring Creuse, and Mathilde Hignet, MP for Ille-et-Vilaine, came to rub shoulders with the heads of stables in view of the draft orientation law agricultural (LOA), which should theoretically arrive in Parliament at the end of the year. It is a stage of their “agri tour”, between farm visits and public meetings. A necessary turn in a world which, according to a March 2022 poll, voted less than 10% for Mélenchon last year.
Not in unknown land
But if, under the Halle d’Auvergne, the clash of cultures is real, the rebellious deputies are not there in unknown territory. Before being elected in June 2022 like her two colleagues, Mathilde Hignet was an agricultural worker on the family farm. A farm in the family “for several generations”, which his parents switched to organic. “About thirty years ago, it was one of the first farms in the area. I’m not kidding you, it was ‘here’s the sect’. The idea is that I will take over the farm one day,” explains the MP, only 30 years old. In the meantime, she will be the leader of the rebels on the LOA project.
In her department, she met with agricultural unions. And it’s going well. “Maybe because I come from the industry. And because I’m talking about fairer remuneration for farmers. And there, everyone agrees. » On the way to the cattle market, Mathilde Hignet assures that she wants to send the message to the agricultural world that “the left is their best ally. We want them to have fair remuneration, not to destroy their health. We are also concerned about the specialization on a global scale of production (the fact that meat comes overwhelmingly from South America, milk overwhelmingly from New Zealand, cereals from France, etc. for example).”
Common grounds
“You see, we are not that far away, we do not agree on the commas”, affirms to Catherine Couturier a representative of the limousine cooperative… which was led by the former Macronist MP defeated by Couturier last year. The MP is proud to have brought together last week, during a public meeting, “associations and unions who never speak to each other”, and even ensures that they find points of agreement. At the Modef stand (small farmers’ unions, marked on the left), the local representative confirms: “It’s true that we didn’t fight. But… that’s not why they’re going to vote left. »
Because the disagreements are not only about commas. The same Catherine Couturier saw her local FDSEA (the majority, productivist agricultural union) repaint her office. The rebels are in fact defending an agricultural model that is the opposite of the current productivist model defended by the majority of farmers. On ecology, water, metanization, agrivoltaism, animal welfare… the rebels are far from current canons. And the cliché of urban rebels sticks to them.
“Of course they see us coming like bohemian Parisian ecologists [Catherine Couturier a été élue locale en Île-de-France pendant vingt ans] But when she says that one of the first organic farms in the Creuse is that of her brother, they are surprised, says her colleague. In fact, it is by taking the individual cases of farmers that we are able to get messages across. They see clearly that the three-generation debt model no longer works. » Mathilde Hignet wants to believe in a “beginning of awareness” and notes that “farmers are asking more and more questions” about the current productive model.
Contested land
Marianne Maximi went to visit the Limagrain stand. Agricultural cooperative based in Puy-de-Dôme on paper, multinational with 10,000 employees and 4th largest seed company in the world in practice. According to the MP who, like the other rebels, has the question of water among her priorities, the group is pushing for the creation of mega basins of 15 and 18 hectares… The now famous basin of Sainte-Soline, in Deux-Montagnes Sèvres, in fact only 10. “It’s essential, but I will perhaps surprise you: yes, I think that the basins are a short-term solution,” says the president of the cooperative, Sébastien Vidal, to an MP a bit disconcerted.
Arriving looking overwhelmed, congratulating himself on being on the last day of the Summit to “finally become a farmer again tomorrow”, the boss of the multinational seems in any case to be a disconcerting man. “I think we all need to agree on major projects,” says Sébastien Vidal, who wants dams and hill reservoirs. “So your idea is big projects without ever thinking about the uses? », recovers Marianne Maximi, who emphasizes that the current water reservoirs are no longer full, not by a long shot. “Do you think that securing food production is not important? », asks Sébastien Vidal. “But of course yes, totally! », replies Maximi. “Are you afraid to agree with a farmer? », he finally provokes.
Land of conquest
Even if they are not in the majority – it’s an understatement to say that – we had no difficulty finding farmers with whom the rebellious delegation agrees. “You see, we don’t get a bad reception! », even points out Marianne Maximi. “Ah, we welcome everyone here… but with more or less of a smile,” explains, smiling, a breeder of Ferrandaises cows, the local breed, close to the Peasant Confederation (union marked on the left). The Auvergne MP nevertheless recognizes it: the three elected officials have not always sought difficulty in the aisles of the Summit.
But even when they bring the contradiction to less convinced interlocutors, it doesn’t go so badly. Throughout this end of life as LFI deputies, we have really observed the “demonization” with which the Mélenchonists are adorned according to the polls. “It’s like everyone else, the same thing doesn’t happen when you go see people and listen to them,” assures Catherine Couturier’s advisor.
For the moment, in any case, it is not enough: the day before, in the same place, Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, made a splash. The rebellious delegation visited the Summit anonymously. The goals of the two visits were not the same, nor was the reputation of the delegations, of course. Mathilde Hignet recognizes that the left has a deficit in embodying agricultural subjects. It’s up to them to take their pilgrim sticks. Or shepherdesses.