Environmental concerns, changes in society… The French consume less meat, resulting in a reduction in the number of livestock farms. One in two retirements is not replaced. Today, a whole model is in the spotlight.
France today has 400,000 agricultural operations, 100,000 fewer in ten years and only 80,000 cattle farms, or 30,000 fewer in ten years. This disaffection can be explained by retirements, but not only.
To better understand, we headed to Domloup, at the gates of Rennes, in Brittany, the leading breeding region. Mickaël Heurtin, 50 years old, is a breeder and son and grandson of a breeder. Three years ago, he had to part with his beef cows, Blondes d’Aquitaine, to concentrate solely on dairy cows. “We had an outlet with a local butcher who took all our animals with a small additional increase in value compared to what is done directly in the slaughterhouse. But despite this, we preferred to stop because it was work and we didn’t make money from it.”he explains.
“However, I loved it. It was more than additional production, diversification. It was a passion and it broke my heart to stop.”
Mickaël Heurtin, Breton breederat franceinfo
Today, Mickaël Heurtin is doing better financially because milk prices have risen well. But, according to him, the world of breeding seems to be at an impasse. “In agricultural schools, 15 years ago, there were two classes in Bac pro breeding. Today, there is only one. What will it be like in 20 years?he asks himself. The profession is not attractive, the number of cattle is decreasing. There is perhaps weariness among some breeders. As cereal prices are sometimes quite high and they see their neighbors stopping dairy production in favor of cereal production and managing to make a living from it, some say to themselves: why not me?” In the Heurtin family, succession is a priori assured. Maxime, the son, is finishing breeding studies.
Environmental and societal issues
Consumption of beef has decreased significantly: 33 kilos per capita in 1980, 22 kilos in 2021, but has seen a surge over the past two years. And there are actually fewer animals. France has 17 million cattle. Even if it remains the largest herd in the European Union, this figure has been decreasing for five years, minus 2 to 3% each year.
Several reasons explain this decrease, underlines Thierry Pouch, the chief economist of the chambers of agriculture: “This drop in numbers can be explained by the fact that at the time, income was not sufficient. It barely, if at all, covered production costs. Today, there are has elements that are juxtaposed with this economic calculation. First, the environmental problem. There is a whole debate around greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. And then, there was a whole debate around the link between consumption of red meat and public health. We must also not forget that for a certain number of representatives of society, there is the whole question of animal welfare as well.”
>> In the Netherlands, toilets for cows to reduce soil and air pollution
Obviously, when you are a breeder, you are not insensitive to these societal issues. But Mickaël Heurtin is worried about the consequences. “The problem is that we are going to import meat. If we don’t produce it, others will do it for us, so from a climate point of view, I find it hard to believe that it will make a big difference- thing. We can set an example by reducing our herds if others do the same. But I don’t believe in meat consumption stopping.”
Less breeding, more imports
And indeed, imports are increasing. “We import more from neighboring countries like Germany, Irelandobserves Emmanuel Bernard, president of the beef section of Interbev, the meat inter-professional association, but it still has a limit. We cannot continue to import more and more from these countries because, in any case, they will not have any to sell to us. Above all, we want to provide French consumers with French meat, and not just out of a patriotic spirit. “
“We must ensure the food sovereignty necessary to avoid all-out imports that do not respect the same standards as us.”
Emmanuel Bernard, president of the cattle section of Interbevat franceinfo
The law requires, for example, that a canteen obtains half its supplies from locally produced meat. The problem is that there is no one to check that it is being applied correctly.