In the livestock sector, meat and milk prices are currently providing some relief to farms, but without masking the fragility of the situation. The decapitalization of the French livestock continues, permanently weakening the production potential and response capacity of sectors to markets. The pork sector is facing strong trade tensions with China, reducing its exports. Meanwhile, contagious nodular dermatosis is increasing the health pressure on cattle farms.
An issue that the union leader emphasized strongly, highlighting the fact that health is a fundamental pillar of agricultural competitiveness:
“Between my mother’s dairy cows producing 3,000 liters and those of my neighbors producing 12,000 liters, it’s like Formula 1 cars. We cannot afford to have small health problems lingering,” he said.
In this context, collectively difficult decisions take on their full significance.
“If the FNSEA, the JA, and all organizations accepted a very strict health protocol on DNC on July 16, it was because it was the only way to permanently remove these outbreaks,” he recalled.
The poultry sector illustrates a concerning contradiction. While consumption is increasing, national production is declining, resulting in structural competitiveness deficits and leading to increased imports.
“Today, we consume an average of 30 kilos of chicken per person, compared to 20 kilos in 2000. Meanwhile, French production has decreased by 13%. That’s how we become importers: because we have not been able to rebuild the poultry houses needed,” he concluded.
French viticulture is going through a major crisis. The year 2025 is marked by a significant increase in uprooting requests, directly linked to lower consumption, slower exports, and increased international competition. The 2025 harvest only reached 36 million hectoliters, well below the usual average of 44 million.
While some regions like Burgundy resist due to their designations, other wine regions, notably in the South, are severely affected.
Vegetable productions are also facing a particularly challenging situation. Price and volume reductions, along with significantly increased costs, are heavily impacting farm profitability. The cost of fertilizers has increased by about 60% since 2020, while the price of agricultural machinery continues to rise, putting financial pressure on producers.
This increase in costs is largely due to geopolitical decisions that directly affect farmers.
“This is an almost doubling of fertilizer prices since we stopped importing fertilizers from Russia and Belarus to support the war effort against Ukraine and weaken Russia, but we, farmers, are the ones feeling this pressure,” he pointed out.
Despite this challenging context, there are strategic opportunities. Rapeseed and oilseeds benefit from sustained global demand for oils and proteins, offering interesting diversification prospects. However, cereal markets remain volatile, with global maize stocks decreasing and contrasting adjustments in different crops, highlighting the need for caution and increased market security.
The situation is clear: the French agricultural and agri-food trade balance is deteriorating significantly. Once historically surplus, it is now rapidly declining. Between 2011-2012 and 2024, the balance has dropped from 11.9 billion euros to 3.9 billion euros, a direct result of faster growth in imports than in exports. This evolution reflects a structural loss of competitiveness and a gradual decline in national production.
This loss of competitiveness is first evident within the European Union. France is losing market share to its neighbors, particularly Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.
“The system in which we were raised is now very open, and our major neighbors have become the top buyers of non-French wheat,” he reminded.
This trend is also seen in the animal sectors, with the pork sector being particularly revealing.
“In 2000, we produced 25 million pigs in France, Germany, Denmark, and Spain each. Today, France has fallen to 21-22 million, while Spain has risen to 40 million, and Germany and Denmark to 32 million. This evolution highlights an economic reality: to sell, you must produce. If you don’t produce, you have no chance of selling.”
The poultry sector further illustrates this logic. While European consumption has significantly increased, production has not followed suit everywhere. This gap has opened the door to imports, worsened by the arrival of Ukrainian volumes.
In conclusion, the message is clear and consistent: there is demand both in European and international markets, but without production, there are no opportunities, no food sovereignty. Production remains crucial for reclaiming market share and strengthening the French agricultural trade balance sustainably.
In an increasingly tense geopolitical context, the European Commission is pursuing a dense and offensive trade agenda. Trade agreements or negotiations with Ukraine, MERCOSUR, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates are multiplying, often to the detriment of the most sensitive agricultural sectors, which once again face commercial concessions.
The impact of the EU-Ukraine agreement is revealing. Despite safeguard mechanisms, the agreement includes significant quota increases for sensitive productions like poultry, sugar, honey, and eggs, raising concerns about market balance and the ability of European producers to remain competitive.
These concessions underscore a growing imbalance between diplomatic ambitions and agricultural realities. In this context, the FNSEA strongly opposes the EU-MERCOSUR agreement, which it deems unacceptable in its current state.
“The absence of reciprocal production standards, inadequate safeguard clauses, and insufficient controls expose European sectors to unfair competition, benefiting imports produced without the same sanitary, environmental, and social standards.”
As highlighted before: “Diplomacy, when France is great, strong, and respected, can serve us. But when it is great and strong without being respected, it does not serve us.”
Faced with criticism and mobilizations, the European Union has announced reinforced safeguard clauses since last fall. The essential question for farmers now is whether these measures will be effectively applied and triggered in time to protect sectors or remain theoretical tools with no concrete impact on the ground?
Given these challenges, the future Common Agricultural Policy, scheduled to be implemented on January 1, 2028, must be more economical and protective. The FNSEA advocates for a secure and reevaluated budget, a CAP focused on competitiveness and resilience, targeting professional farmers and genuinely supporting production in territories.
Market regulation, transparency in crisis management, and simplification of the green architecture are identified as crucial levers.
Through this intervention, a central message is clear: there is no food sovereignty without production, no production without means, and no means without clear and assumed political choices.
In the face of intensified international competition, France and the EU can no longer treat agriculture as a mere adjustment variable for trade or diplomatic policies. Production is a strategic act, essential for feeding citizens, maintaining activity in territories, and ensuring the future of agriculture.
In this demanding context, the role of union commitment is paramount.
“At the FDSEA, to commit is to be of service,” an essential attitude more necessary than ever, as difficulties require rebounding.
