More than half of the operators use these subcontractors, which contribute to the concentration of land.
It is a phenomenon that is spreading, but of which there is little mention. Much less in any case than the presence of foreign investors, who hold less than 3% of the area exploited in France, including 80% from the European Union. Booming, agricultural work companies (ETA) contribute to the concentration of land. According to the last agricultural census of 2020, more and more farmers are using these subcontractors, especially for heavy work: baling hay, harvesting wheat or ensiling corn. In ten years, the number of farmers using ETAs has increased from 43% to 57%. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, 15% of the French agricultural area is exploited by ETA.
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Four main reasons explain this development. Agricultural equipment, increasingly sophisticated, is too expensive for a single operator: a harvester is worth between 100,000 and 500,000 euros. In addition, operators have fewer and fewer…
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