Le Foll announces additional aid for dairy farmers and cattle – The Figaro

A outstanding help of 1000 euros will be paid in December of 23,000 dairy farmers in difficulty. Another financial support is intended for cattle farmers, in order to support the meat market.

The minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll announced on Friday a further exceptional aid of 1000 euros which will be paid in December of 23,000 dairy farmers in difficulty. “The overall aid package amounted to 23 million euros,” said the minister to the press. “We will complete according to the situation at the beginning of next year”, he added.

This is in response to a first aid plan for breeding in 2015, while the price of milk collapsed, and that the dairy farmers could not cover their costs of production by selling their milk to cooperatives, triggering of the fronds farmers against the giants of the sector.

The aid is accompanied by another for financial support for cattle farmers, in order to support the marketing of the meat, which also plunged this year. The farmers will receive 150 euros per young cattle of less than 360 kilograms shot. “It is a measure of control of production,” which aims to “avoid disrupting the market” meat, said the minister. No overall budget has been announced for this help. “We will adapt in function of the number of farmers who request it,” said the minister.

The situation of farmers in the livestock sector remains very critical and a cause for concern in France. According to the MSA, the social security of farmers, more than 30% of operators reported an income of less than € 350 per month in 2015. “The president of the MSA anticipates that 60% of the farmers will be below the poverty line in 2016″, said last week Xavier Beulin, president of FNSEA, the main farmers union.

last summer, after an arm of iron highly publicized, the producers had reached an agreement with Lactalis. It set the price of a tonne of milk “290 euros on average” for the last five months of the year. And provided for an increase of five euros to the price of a tonne of milk each month until the end of the year, the price from 280 euros in August to € 300 in December.

(With AFP)