The authorities were surely expecting a more eventful day. The convergence of anger between farmers and fishermen this Thursday noon in front of the regional prefecture in Rennes could indeed portend risks of excesses as in Agen. But this was not the case and the demonstration, which brought together around a hundred tractors from all over the Great West and some 450 people, took place in the greatest calm. “We said that we did not want any breakages or spillage of slurry and this was perfectly respected,” says Natacha Guillemet, a farmer in Vendée and member of the national office of Rural Coordination which called for mobilization.
In the neighboring town of Nantes, farmers also took out their John Deere and Massey Ferguson to express their fed up with nearly 350 tractors who responded to the call from the FDSEA and the Young Farmers of Loire-Atlantique. And there too the calls for calm from the unions were perfectly respected by the troops, apart from a little hay thrown in front of the entrance to the prefecture. “It’s okay, it’s just straw,” says a farmer. It’s not rubbish and we didn’t break anything. »
” What do you want ? That we die with our mouths open without saying anything? »
Nothing to do in fact with the scenes of chaos and damage committed on Wednesday in front of the Lot-et-Garonne prefecture or the explosion of a Dreal building in Carcassonne on the night of January 18 to 19. Acts denounced on Franceinfo by Luc Smessaert, vice-president of the FNSEA. “We must not attack property,” he insisted. But in the Rennes procession, there are not many people to condemn these acts. ” What do you want ? That we die with our mouths open without saying anything? », exclaims a dairy farmer from Normandy. “When you’re at the end of the line, you don’t know how far it can go,” adds one of his colleagues.
Present in the procession, like some local representatives of the National Rally, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan is also lenient with the farmers. “They never called for violence,” underlines the president of Debout la France. On the contrary, they have been too kind for so many years and it is normal for this anger to be expressed. » A dismay that union representatives are currently trying to calm while waiting to hear the government’s proposals on Friday. “We will calmly wait for the announcements before deciding what to do next,” assures Véronique Le Floc’h, president of Rural Coordination. But if it’s not satisfactory, we’ll definitely start again and I’m not sure I’ll be able to control the troops everywhere. »
“The government knows what we are capable of”
Same story with Olivier, a beef cow breeder in Loire-Atlantique. “Today, we came without a trailer but the tires, the manure, all that, we have everything we need at home,” he says. The government knows what we are capable of so we hope to have answers tomorrow without having to get to that point. » “We need real commitments made, not promises never kept,” adds this other breeder encountered in the procession from Nantes. It’s urgent because we are very close to the spark! »
Many in the audience are not fooled either. “Attal is not a magician and cannot solve all the problems with the wave of a magic wand,” underlines this Breton pig breeder. In any case, the movement is far from over. We just don’t know how far it will go but I am ready to continue the fight, for myself but also for future generations. »
Spokesperson for the angry fishermen, David Le Quintrec from Lorient also does not believe that the blow will die down any time soon. “It’s not a few announcements that are going to fix things,” believes the net filler. I think it’s going to be a clash and it’s going to really blow up very soon. » Here is the government at least warned.