Agriculture: Annie Genevard announces a global plan to tackle heat waves and drought

The Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, announced on Wednesday a “comprehensive heatwave – drought – fire support plan” so that no farmer is “left alone in the face of this situation”, with emergency measures to compensate for economic difficulties and “adaptations” for access to water.

“This plan will include emergency measures in favor of farm cash flow, support for social security contributions, simplification and exemption mechanisms, as well as measures intended to facilitate the return to production of the hardest hit farms,” the ministry said in a press release.

On a case-by-case basis, on the ground, the ministry wishes to “adapt water management measures in compliance with the framework set by the drought guide and the 2023 interministerial instruction” in order to “reconcile the preservation of water resources with the continuity of agricultural production”. The ministry recalls that 98 departments are affected by the drought, of which 57 are placed in a crisis situation, with significant restrictions on water use. Since the end of June, farmers have been hit hard by successive heat waves which have added to a chronic lack of water due to drought.

Millions of poultry have perished, suffocated by the heat, meadows are scorched and cows produce less milk, corn production could reach a low while the wheat harvest, already finished, is expected to drop by at least 4%. Fruit and vegetable production is particularly suffering, especially in Brittany, a large market-growing region unaccustomed to these climatic phenomena which ruin non-irrigated field crops. Agricultural and inter-professional unions have sounded the alarm several times in recent weeks, despite regular meetings at the ministry and at regional level, with professionals, banks and private insurers as well as the agricultural social mutuality (MSA).

A national drought unit has been activated at the Ministry of Agriculture and has asked each prefect “to designate a drought representative and to set up, without delay, a departmental unit” in order to establish “a precise diagnosis”. The aid from the plan “in preparation” will be calibrated “on the basis in particular of feedback” from cells at prefecture level.