Anger is brewing in the countryside. A week after the demonstration of farmers affiliated with the FNSEA and the Young Farmers in several towns in Brittany, this time it was the members of the Confédération paysanne who decided to make themselves heard. Tuesday afternoon, around a hundred farmers took action and occupied the premises of the Regional Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Draaf) in Rennes.
They thus intended to put pressure on the State so that it “honors its commitments to farmers engaged in the agro-ecological transition”, demanding in particular more funding for agro-environmental and climate measures. “The Maec are a real tool for agricultural transition, because with its contracts, farmers commit to changes in practices and systems over five years,” indicates the Peasant Confederation in a press release.
The evacuation of the premises ordered in the evening
While some farmers planned to spend the night in the Draaf premises, the situation became tense in the early evening. Around 9 p.m., the prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine ordered the evacuation of the premises. “The safety of people and property requires evacuation”, justified the prefect, deploring that the farmers “did not take up his proposal to exchange with them on Thursday”.
After this “strong” evacuation according to the union, the Peasant Confederation planned to hold a meeting this Wednesday at the beginning of the afternoon in front of the headquarters of the Regional Directorate of Agriculture.