The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau, announced on Monday, June 6, in eastern Bordeaux the activation of a series of measures to relieve farms affected by the violent episode of hail which crossed France at the end of last week.

“We will very quickly activate the devices that we know, such as the reduction of social charges, the tax exemption on the tax on unbuilt land, these are classic elements that we know; also look at the devices that can be taken in the context of agricultural disasters, ”said Mr. Fesneau after his meeting with winegrowers on a farm in Saint-Quentin-de-Caplong, in Gironde, affected on Thursday.

“There is a request that has been made, we are working hard on it, to ensure that the loans guaranteed by the State can be extended over time because we will have in these farms loss of income” , he added, without giving specific figures.

A “real disaster” for agriculture

In the short term, “we need to have an inventory very quickly to activate the devices (…). We have a very violent event in many departments, but in localized areas. We need to look at the differences between those who were insured or not, those who were covered for such and such risks. We will do it on a case-by-case basis,” he continued, assuring “the mobilization of the state”.

He also returned to the new harvest insurance system, which will apply from January 1, 2023. “It is the doubling of the budget, from 300 to 600 million euros, which will allow more than farmers to insure,” he said.

On the prevention side, “we have to work on systems that make it possible to lessen the effects of stormy phenomena [face] climate change, which produces more regular and more powerful events,” said Mr. Fesneau.

The intense storm that crossed France was a “real disaster” for agriculture, with hail affecting vineyards, cereal crops and buildings, Agence France-Presse told Agence France-Presse on Sunday (AFP ) the president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), Christiane Lambert. Significant damage was noted across France, with more than forty departments affected, ranging from Brittany to Gers and Landes via Indre-et-Loire or Allier, according to the union federation.