The rain finally fell on the Basque Country on Sunday August 14th. But the expected rainfall will not be enough to erase the wave of drought that has hit in recent weeks. Given the damage observed in crops, more is needed than recognition of a state of natural disaster, believes the president of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Chamber of Agriculture. Bernard Layre asks for a “national support plan for agriculture”.
France Bleu Pays Basque: After this wave of drought, are you going to request a state of natural disaster from the government, so that farmers are compensated?
Bernard Layer: Listen, the situation is much more serious than a situation of natural disaster or agricultural calamities. We are now in a truly exceptional situation where, unfortunately, if we want to maintain production potential for the years to come, to retain farmers, stockbreeders and grain growers, we need a genuine national plan to support ‘agriculture. Because unfortunately, less than a quarter of farmers today can benefit from irrigation to irrigate their fodder or their crops. And so, three quarters are in a very difficult situation and I don’t know how they are going to manage to be able to pay their installments which will arrive soon.
But asking for a state of natural disaster could allow farmers to receive compensation and pay their charges.
Today, compensation schemes for natural disasters or calamities cover between 25 and 30% of dramatic situations, for example when you have rock failures. But the drought part does not fit into these elements. So we really need a derogation to support French agriculture. Because it is not only the agriculture of the Basque Country and Béarn, it is French agriculture that is in danger today and we will be far from the objective of food sovereignty. If there is not a collective awareness to support today, faced with the explosion of costs on the one hand, and then faced with the drop in yields due to the drought, to support our farmers and our women farmers in the area.
QWhich crops are particularly affected by this drought?
All sectors are affected today, whether livestock or cereals, since the main cereal in the department is corn. It will be harvested at the end of the year. We see in mid-August indeed that the situation is dramatic for all those who have not been able to irrigate. And we hope that those who irrigated will have water until the end.
The coming rain can’t save the season?
Today, all plants have completed most of their cycle. The only thing that the rain could bring is to fall in abundance and on a regular basis, without being violent thunderstorms. It could actually be greening the fodder, the meadows, the summer pastures a little bit. But everything concerning the cereal part is almost over.
You said you were going to plan an action. What will it look like and what will be the main demand?
We plan to bring together all the economic actors of the department soon to challenge the public authorities. It seems important to us that the chamber of agriculture is now the conductor to raise awareness not only at the departmental level, at the regional level, but also at the national level. And I do hope that everyone will realize that French agriculture is really in danger. We are really ringing the alarm bell so that we can maintain our production potential for the years to come. And that we actually have the men and women who can continue to produce. From 2023.