Tarifs à géométrie variable imposés par Donald Trumpparalysis of Strait of Hormuz, war between Russia and Ukraine… For several years, the crises have been coming one after the other. What impact do these global disorders have they concretely on French farmers? “The multiplicity of hazards requires us to go beyond technique, being technically good is no longer enough, you have to be an operations manager. We must know its production cost“, recalls Alessandra Kirschassistant inspector at CGAAER. She speaks this June 16 during a round table entitled “in the global geopolitical turmoil, what place for French and European agriculture » lors des agriculture and food controversies 2026 organized by the Réussir-Agra group.
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« When, with the increase in fertilizer priceswe wonder, in France, whether to sow or not, Romanian farmers do not ask themselves the question because they have a low level of fixed costs.“, explains the co-author of a much-commented report on the competitiveness of French farms in comparison with their European competitors, published this winter. “In France, grain farms are very good technically but very vulnerable to price changes », illustrious-t-elle.
What worries us are these permanent changes of course, a perpetual questioning of our decisions.
« What worries us are these permanent changes of course, which lead to a perpetual questioning of our decisions.» testifies for his part Yohann Barbedairy farmer in the Vosges and president of the national federation of milk producers (FNPL).
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Should we question international openness?
Faced with this situation, how should the agricultural policies ? « We entered into a It is a permanent crisis. Faced with geopolitical factors and climatic hazards, farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to plan. We have to think about our agricultural policies according to this compass. We can try to prevent hazards (with observatories of production volumes and regulation) or we must reduce our vulnerabilities », estimate Aurélie Catallowho directs the France component of the “agricultural and food policies” program at theInstitute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). According to her, “ the French and European system is too dependent on technical inputs and exports »
The French and European system is too dependent on technical inputs and exports
 « On a besoin d’international exchanges. The pride of France is to export, we need it to promote all of our milks“, affirms for his part Yohann Barbe, recognizing however that he “You have to be careful about the products you import“. In this regard, he regrets France’s loss of influence in international negotiations. On the subject of compétitivité« we chose family farms but today we have a real serious issue with our neighbors. We do not have sufficient size to self-insure on our farms.“, he continues, recalling that France has also chosen to regulate its dairy volumes unlike Germany, for example. “We will have to accept that the Farm France increase“, he continues. “But when I see that a distributor who advocates local purchasing every day is blocking the construction of a henhouse for 9,000 hens, I find it unacceptable.“, takes the opportunity to let go of the breeder.
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What competitiveness gains are possible?
For Alessandra Kirsch of gains de compétitivité are still possible in the French dairy sector. HAS”France produces less milk per cow than its neighbors due in particular to too high a number of replacement heifers. We can improve the intake capacity and the interval between calvings », express-t-elle.
France produces less milk per cow than its neighbors due in particular to too high a number of replacement heifers.
For Yohann Barbe, innovation is also “forcefully the key to productivity ”. «ÂIn France, given the size of farms, we must create income per hectare and through innovation.», he emphasizes the bearing together with the idea of principe d’innovation introduced in the last FNSEA orientation report. However, according to him, French dairy manufacturers are behind in innovation. “It’s going to take a quick dose of innovation to catch up with our neighbors.», lance-t-il.Â
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Is competitiveness compatible with the agroecological transition?
But is this quest for competitiveness compatible with the environmental issue? “What raises questions is not the compatibility of agronomic production with the environment, it is the compatibility between a production maximization strategy and ecology. We asked a lot of effort from farmers to reduce pesticides but we did not ask other stakeholders to make any effort.“, argues Aurélie Catallo. According to her, manufacturers and distributors have not sufficiently supported the change in product mix caused by the modification of practices among farmers. To organize all this, “We need a great conductor“, she adds.
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According to her, the “compatible between agroécologie and pur libre-échange“is not otherwise “ pas possible ”. Elle appelle à la réciprocité des normes “with third countries” but also “above all on the scale of the European market”, on which “we have been in deficit for ten years”. HAS” We hear a lot about overtransposition in France, but rather than lowering our standards, we need more harmonization », he affirmed.
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How can the CAP move things forward?
It is precisely necessary to evolve the PAC towards more environmental rules? “The CAP has evolved in the right direction but it is difficult to communicate it. We have ecoconditionalized a good part of the CAP aid since 2023 while the budget falls in constant euros, the risk is to have cases of waivers of CAP aid », Alessandra Kirsch points out. «ÂOn the environment, we must recognize what is already done. Organic will only create value if there is something conventional next to it. A 100% grass farm cannot improve. We must recognize the current practices of farmers“, adds Yohann Barbe, to the applause of the audience.
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