The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced on Friday a tax exemption measure in favor of cattle breeders, a flagship measure of a “plan to regain the sovereignty of livestock breeding” in France presented at the Summit breeding in Puy-de-Dôme.
In the 2024 budget, an exceptional measure to support French livestock farming will take the form of a provision of 150 euros per cow, up to 15,000 euros per farm, or one hundred cows, in order to reduce the taxation of breeders which results from the increase of the value of their stock, indicated Mr. Le Maire in an interview with the regional daily La Montagne.
This is a strong demand from the breeding world. In these times of budgetary scarcity we still wanted to access it, added the man who was Minister of Agriculture from 2009 to 2012.
During a visit to the Cournon-d’Auvergne Livestock Summit (Puy-de-Dme), Bruno Le Maire specified that the measure would cost several tens of millions of euros. The National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) congratulated itself in a press release on a victory for the farmers resulting from its determined action with the minister.
Stop decapitalization
The majority union recalls having for months alerted the government to an unprecedented deterioration in the cash flow of breeders, due to an increase in the value of suckler and dairy cows due to market increases and inflation. This leads to an increase in taxes and social security contributions without any real enrichment.
In short: the book value of cows increases with inflation – even though they do not produce more milk or calves – which ultimately increases the farmer’s taxes. From an accounting standpoint, cows are fixed stock.
We must stop the decapitalization (decline, editor’s note) of the French cattle herd, Mr. Le Maire told the Livestock Summit. We must stop this hemorrhage just as we have managed in recent years to stop industrial hemorrhage.
Without tax relief, breeders could be tempted to sell a few cows to reduce their tax
This measure is in fact seen as a means of combating the decline in livestock numbers and the decline in French production of beef and milk. Without tax relief, breeders could be tempted to sell a few cows to reduce their tax, which risks resulting in a loss of production capacity, underlined the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, on Wednesday during a press conference. .
On the contrary, the Confédération paysanne, the third agricultural union, considered in a press release that tax deduction was not the solution to the decapitalization of herds and did not resolve the problem of farm transmission. While professionals also fear paying the price for the government’s desire to lower the cost of food, Mr. Le Maire assured that he would (ensure) the defense of the interests of farmers during annual negotiations between supermarkets and their major food industry suppliers.
Bercy is currently proposing a bill to bring forward the start date of these negotiations in the hope of bringing prices down more quickly. The drop in shelf prices should not result in an effort by producers but by an effort by distributors and manufacturers, Mr. Le Maire said on Friday. In particular, he will ask the General Financial Inspectorate (IGF) to ensure respect for producers’ margins, in accordance with the Egalim laws which protect farmers’ income.
In a joint press release published Friday evening, the Ministers of Agriculture and the Economy discuss a recovery plan in which they reaffirm their desire to preserve the income of breeders in the short term while improving the competitiveness of the sectors in the long term.
They list the priorities for this sector, ranging from improving livestock farmers’ income to taking into account the sustainability of the production method, to strengthening research to improve the resilience of livestock sectors in the face of climate change.
For example, by making a reality of the obligation, for collective catering, to use from January 1, 2024, at least 60% of meat products from sustainable farming or with an official sign of quality and origin. Or by directing 400 million guaranteed loans (…) towards livestock farming in the coming years.
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