This Friday in November, early in the afternoon, Christophe Piquet sets out on a tractor along the roads of the Gard. He is delivering hay to an equestrian center located about ten kilometers away. This cooperative of winegrowers and ranchers from Bezouce (Gard), a town located on the outskirts of Nimes, is 46 years old and offers this type of services to make ends meet.
Le Gardois, the son, grandson and great-grandson of a farmer, benefited from the family lands when he settled. It manages 160 hectares managed in organic farming, about forty owned and the rest rented. “The land has become inaccessible. It is almost impossible to buy land »explains this divorced father of three children, who says he is willing to resume the mobilization.
In the Gard department, farmers’ anger has been increasing for several weeks. The municipal signs were first covered up, before reaching the gates of the prefecture… So many actions aimed at preventing a new, broader movement. “Starting Monday [18 novembre], “Let’s turn on the emergency lights.”says David Sève, head of the departmental federation of farmers’ unions (FDSEA) of the Gard, and continues: “We have not been heard on essential issues such as premiums for uprooting vines that should be exempt from taxes, the limitations that weigh on phytosanitary products without substitute products, Mercosur or support for farmers in great difficulty and the specificities of our agriculture of the Gard. »
“The objective is the State”
Christophe Piquet, member of the FDSEA, plans to participate in the movement: “The objective is the State. We are not going to block traffic or penalize the population, but we want to be heard. » And he adds immediately, almost discouraged: “I didn’t imagine we would have to return to action so quickly. »
Here in Gard, the crisis of the farmers, who had completely blocked the A9 motorway, lasted ten days. An unprecedented move in this department. After the mobilization, emergency aid was paid (8.53 million euros for 982 farms), but the agricultural world of the Gard believes that the other promises have not been fulfilled. “The simplification measures have not seen the light of day. Organically, we got nothing. Many people are desperate and no longer believe in the movement. “I have a friend who sold his land and left his job.”Mr. Piquet testifies.
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