The Agricultural Show closed its doors on Sunday March 3, Porte de Versailles in Paris. At the time of the first assessment, the organizers counted more than 603,000 visitors, and said they were satisfied, despite a slight decline, compared to 615,000 in 2023. However, for the sixtieth edition of the show, the anger of farmers, who has been speaking throughout the country since mid-January, was invited with a bang. Result: a meeting far from its usual atmosphere and punctuated by completely new scenes.
The day before the opening, Friday February 23, the FNSEA unions (National Federation of Farmers’ Unions) and the Young Farmers (JA) organized a demonstration in Paris, followed by an installation for the night in front of the doors of the living room. Members of the Rural Coordination had also traveled to the capital. Saturday February 24 in the morning, when Emmanuel Macron discreetly entered the premises, a few hundred demonstrators from the three unions forced the doors.
What followed were clashes with the police, a delayed inauguration of the show, a stroll by the president under heavy police protection and entry prevented for several hours for the general public wishing to visit Hall 1, where the concentration the animals, including the muse of the event: the cow Oreillette.
Exacerbated tension
The union, classified on the left, of the Confédération paysanne, chose to take over the stand of the dairy giant Lactalis, Tuesday February 27, to denounce the too low price of milk paid to breeders. Finally, Friday 1er March, Lactalis and the National Union of Lactalis Livestock Breeders (Unell), which brings together a large part of the farmers under contract with the manufacturer, announced that they had reached an agreement for the price of milk paid in the first quarter of 2024, at 425 euros the thousand liters.
Lactalis had proposed 405 euros in January, causing an outcry from breeders considering that such an amount did not cover their production costs. Finally, the Rural Coordination organized a surprise demonstration, Friday 1er March, laying bales of straw, at the foot of the Arc-de-Triomphe.
Tension was also exacerbated by the prospect of European elections in June. The 60th edition of the agricultural show will also be marked by the record number of political figures strolling through the aisles. Not all received the same reception. The Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu were victims of egg throwing and whistles from FNSEA activists as they went to the stand of the Agency for ecological transition (Ademe), Friday 1er March.
You have 14% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.