more than 7,000 fruit trees uprooted on three hectares, an investigation is opened

More than 7,000 fruit trees, including apple tree scions, were uprooted from three hectares in the Tarn overnight from Thursday to Friday, reports France Bleu Occitanie.

The degradation took place on the Vergers de Fontorbe estate, in Lavaur. The director of the domain, Lucas Crosnier, filed a complaint. The Tarn gendarmes noted the damage this Friday morning. In an email, the Prefect of Tarn “strongly condemns” an act which, he assures “is hurting this farm.” An investigation is opened.

A plot in “deconversion”

The director of the domain tells avoir “noted that our freshly top-grafted apple orchards were degraded”. He adds : “We do the accounts and we hope that this does not destroy the rootstocks. The renewal of an orchard is 3-4% per year and a lot of investment”. For the director of the domain, it is “human stupidity. Some of my employees have seen 100% of their work ripped off in the last three months“, he regrets. He hopes that “the gendarmerie will find these people because they must be put in front of their responsibilities”.

Lucas Crosnier explains that the plot concerned by the degradation is “in deconversion”, that is to say that certain organic plots are returning to conventional cultivation. France Bleu also specifies that on July 1, the association Vrais Nature Environnement (VNE) had organized a citizen march because the opponents had learned of this deconversion. For the director of the domain, a link between this information cannot be ruled out: “We have to fight against ideologies and physical activism”he said.

Tensions between local residents and the estate manager

The domain of Fontorbe employs 100 people. Lucas Crosnier specifies that no one is technically unemployed. His estate operates 325 hectares of orchards in the municipalities of Lavaur, Ambres and Giroussens in the Tarn department, so around 1% of the estate was affected.

It should be noted that the tensions between the residents and the director of the estate are not new. In the spring of 2022, Lucas Crosnier was placed in police custody for using pesticides despite strong orange wind vigilance in the Tarn department. Another significant fact, last April, the judicial court of Castres had declared void the summons of the director of the domain, who had filed a complaint for denigration after the broadcast of a documentary entitled “Agro-industry, when the apple poisons our lives”. VNE then spoke of “a victory”.