After the demonstrations of December, the Chamber of Agriculture of the Gironde was responsible for identifying the members of the profession currently in danger. She has just released the first results of her investigation.
Le Figaro Bordeaux
Bordeaux winegrowers are still in difficulty. After the demonstrations at the beginning of December where they demanded 150 million euros in order to “save the industry“, the prefecture has created a crisis unit. Within it, the Chamber of Agriculture of the Gironde has been responsible for identifying members of the profession in danger. The first results of this survey were presented on Friday: 1,320 people, or almost a third of the 4,000 professional winegrowers in the department, are facing serious financial difficulties. So much so that just under 25% of them plan to “stop everything by carrying out a complete tear-offof their vines.
“For the most part, these are winegrowers close to retirement who have not found a buyer.“, however nuance Thierry Mazet. The director of the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture, who believes that “uprooting is not the magic tool that will solve all problemsrecalls the avenues that could initiate a structural reform of the profession. The diversification of farms is the first solution he mentions to save them. With a double objective: on the one hand to ensure the profitability of the vineyards and on the other, to avoidleave land fallowwhen they could be sown with less water-intensive crops.
A calendar disrupted by the departure of the prefect
The development of sales and marketing strategies to regain market share are also essential, according to the director of the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture. The observation in 2022 is indeed clear: even the French, to name a few, drink much less wine than before.
While the actors contributing to this crisis cell were to sit around the table on January 31 to analyze this report from the Gironde Chamber of Agriculture, the departure of the prefect Fabienne Buccio, scheduled on the eve of this meeting, has somewhat upset the calendar. Very sensitive to this crisis “which affects us all because it even affects the very image of the Gironde“, the senior civil servant passes the torch to Étienne Guyot, who will take office on January 30.
SEE ALSO – “I have slowed down my activity”: the concern of farmers who suffer from the shortage of fuel