On Saturday, September 21, Patrick Viala, viticulturist and cereal grower from Saint-Nazaire-des-Gardies (Gard), in the foothills of the Cévennes, finished his harvest under a blue sky in a unique way: the last buckets of grapes, 1,160 kilos Collected by hand, it arrived at the town cooperative’s winery in a horse-drawn trailer.
About thirty grape harvesters followed the cart as they walked, in an atmosphere of good humor, although, in reality, this event created ten years ago has nothing folkloric about it. “ It is not intended to be a postcard. It is the march of “perseverance” [le nom de la cuvée], explains the farmer. We have harvested and there is no quantity. We know that next year is going to be even more difficult. Being a winegrower today means above all knowing how to demonstrate perseverance. »
In the Gard, a department where the peasant movement was especially followed in January, with the blockade of the A9 motorway for ten days, the winegrowers, the driving force of local agriculture, who represent 51% of the agricultural holdings in the Gard, are in good shape. humor. . at half mast. According to initial estimates, the 2024 harvest decreased by 30% compared to 2023, going from 3.2 million hectoliters to 2.5 million, a victim of mildew and coulure (poor fertilization of flowers). “And we are 20% below the ten-year average”observes Bruno Manzone, president of Vignerons Créateurs, a group of six cooperative wineries (90 members) in the south of the department.
A profession in waiting
“The market is in crisis, exports are suffering and our costs, in particular the price of plant protection products, have increased significantly. “It’s going to be difficult in terms of cash flow for a lot of us.”warns Romain Angelras, 35 years old, president of the Young Farmers and winegrower in charge of a hundred hectares.
After the mobilization at the beginning of the year, the Gard winegrowers received emergency aid. In total, 8.53 million euros were paid to 982 farms, with an average of 5,522 euros per “files that have suffered losses greater than 20%”We explained to the departmental directorate of territories and sea.
But since then the profession has been on hold. Brussels has not yet disbursed the start-up aid promised by the previous Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau. “Everyone is waiting to know the conditions”continues the manager, who fears that the measures are not enough. In the department, where 31% of the farms have a boss over 61 years of age (source Agreste), the startup could represent a solution. “so that future retirees get out of this situation in the least bad way”.
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