First contacts with a profession in tension. Elisabeth Borne, traveling Thursday May 26 in the Loiret in a farm affected by drought, assured that her government was “determined to act to prevent the situation from deteriorating” and “support farmers financially”.
>> Faced with the risk of drought, a fifth of mainland France on alert
Visiting this 230-hectare farm, located between Beauce and Sologne and specializing in cereals, strawberries and asparagus, the Prime Minister spoke at length with a young farmer who explained to her that “this year, the drought started early”.
“We are taking measures to manage water resources and prevent the situation from becoming unmanageable this summer”explained Elisabeth Borne, who was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and the Minister of Ecological Transition Amélie de Montchalin.
Instructions were given to the prefects “to preserve water resources as much as possible”with “messages to all French people to reduce their water consumption”and for the most difficult situations “drought decrees and therefore restrictions on non-priority uses”she added, specifying that 19 departments are now concerned.
The head of government also recalled that 400 million euros will be allocated “to breeders who may have difficulties with animal feed due to the drought”, as part of the exceptional aid plan put in place following the war in Ukraine and the soaring prices of these foods. “The window for setting up this aid will open on Monday,” she announced.
Elisabeth Borne also recalled the doubling of the envelope (from 20 to 40 million euros) for farmers wishing to invest in equipment to optimize water consumption, and the additional 100 million euros available to water agencies to help agricultural sectors adapt or create water reservoirs. “In addition, wherever it will be justified, we will activate the agricultural calamity system for fodder this year”she added.