Sommet de l'Elevage 2024

Renewing Farmers: Who Will Be the Farmers of Tomorrow?

Oct 3, 2024 — 04:30 pm - 6:30 PM

Centre de conférence - Salle 6

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The decline in the number of farmers in France has continued unabated since the end of World War II. In 1955, France had 6 million farmers, compared to less than 400,000 today. This decline is characteristic of industrial economies. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, the agricultural population represents less than 2% of the active population, and France is not far from crossing this threshold. Agricultural policy has encouraged this decline in the number of farmers, first by encouraging productivity in agriculture and expansion through departure aid for the smallest farms (Life Annuities for Departure). Then direct aid, set per unit of area to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), replaced the price support of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1992 and led to the expansion of farms. Successive governments have thus encouraged this transfer of land to expand farms with the aim of keeping food prices low for consumers. All these measures have accelerated the decline in the number of farms. At the same time, agricultural policy proclaimed the objective of encouraging family farms. The objective was all the more consensual as the size of the family farm can vary, making the objective acceptable for a wide range of farmers. In France, the Land Development and Rural Establishment Companies (SAFER) were created in 1960 to promote the maintenance of agricultural "structures", i.e. a population of farms in line with the vision of a family-based agriculture. The agricultural orientation bill submitted to the National Assembly in early 2024 on generational renewal in agriculture was seen as an opportunity to reorient agricultural policy towards agroecology. As early as 1978, Jacques Poly, Director General of INRA, observed that guaranteed prices and more generally agricultural policy did not encourage a shift towards "autonomous and economical" agriculture. Agricultural policy has notoriously favored crops over livestock (cattle in particular). The "second pillar" (aid to agriculture in disadvantaged regions where livestock farming predominates and agro-environmental aid) remains historically low compared to the "first pillar" of direct production aid, favoring cereals. Is this imbalance compatible with the desired objective of sustainable agriculture? The orientation of agriculture is above all a question of incentives for certain practices and the adoption of certain farm models. The incentives of agricultural policy have essentially accompanied the expansion and specialization of farms. Agroecology is a general concept that aims to seek low-impact agricultural methods that allow for production in quantity and quality, while preserving soil fertility, protecting water quality, adapting to climate change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions, developing biodiversity and preserving territories and landscapes... Through its ability to adapt to the diversity of territories and situations that it requires, agroecology does not correspond to a model but rather to the holistic approach that each particular situation calls for. Orienting policy towards sustainable agriculture requires more substantial aid for environmental services. Agricultural income would thus come from both production revenues and remuneration for environmental services rendered. Should agricultural subsidies not show a clearer justification in favor of the public good that is the preservation of nature? The following questions may be addressed: What analysis do the speakers make of the current situation, the trends observed and the future prospects? Does this analysis correspond to the observations above? What, according to the speakers, has been the effect of agricultural policy and in particular the CAP? How do the speakers analyze the difficulties of reforming the policy, particularly with regard to generational renewal and the reorientation of agriculture towards a more sustainable path? What is the vision and what are the recommendations for the future? How do they relate to the French agricultural orientation bill of 2024? How to give young people the desire and the means to take up the challenge of setting up an agroecological orientation? The conference will be moderated by Marie-Laure Hustache, founder of L'Agence de Marie-Laure, communication consultant / member of the SYRPA Board. On-site participants will be invited to share a convivial moment with the speakers while enjoying local products.

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