More than 7,000 apple trees were ransacked in the orchard of a Tarn farmer. The director of the estate suspects an association of local residents of being responsible, but the latter has denied it.
A devastated orchard. More than 7,000 apple trees were uprooted on the night of Thursday July 13 to Friday July 14, on the lands of the Fontorbe estate, in Lavaur (Tarn). The director of operations, Lucas Crosnier, suspects the local residents’ association Vrais Nature Environnement (VNE) of being behind this rampage, which the organization denies. Here is what we know about this case.
Scions of apple trees torn out and thrown to the ground
A plot of three hectares of fruit trees was degraded on the domain of Fontorbe, that is to say nearly 1% of this exploitation which extends over 325 hectares and employs one hundred people. On Friday morning, the estate manager and his team observed the damage: over the entire surface, the grafts of apple trees were torn out and thrown to the ground.
“It’s (of) human stupidity. Some of my employees have seen 100% of their work for the last three months ripped off.”
Lucas Crosnier, director of the domain of Fontorbein France Bleu Occitanie
Lucas Crosnier told our colleagues from France Bleu Occitanie that the “freshly top-grafted apple orchards” were concerned. “We are doing the accounts and we hope that this will not destroy the rootstocks”added the operator, stressing that renewing an orchard represented “lots of investment”.
An association called into question and which denies
The director of the estate suspects members of a local residents’ association of being behind these damages. The sacked surface is “in deconversion”, he explained, that is to say that some organic plots are returning to conventional cultivation. However, on July 1, the Vrais Nature Environnement association organized a citizen’s march, which took place calmly, to challenge this choice to return to conventional agriculture, recalls France Bleu Occitanie.
“This act of vandalism comes fifteen days after the march (…) following which we legitimately had the feeling that constructive exchanges could continue. The destructive action of which we were victims last night tends to show that the will of certain militants is only a display”lambasted Lucas Crosnier in a statement seen by France 3.
For its part, the VNE association denied any responsibility. “We deplore the action of destruction on the orchards, for which Vrais Nature Environnement is in no way responsible and which is in no way linked to the action of our association”she assured on Facebook, specifying that it did not fit into her “manners of acting, peaceful and legalistic”.
“It’s not an action that was carried out by the association, it’s not our modus operandi”, insisted Olivier Chollet, one of the representatives of VNE, with AFP. “We deplore this action and it causes us harm, we call for appeasement”he added.
Conflicts with local residents in the past
Relations between the domain of Fontorbe and local residents have already been strained in the past. In April 2021, the orchard manager had burned tons of straw to protect his trees from frost. The fumes had intoxicated about twenty inhabitants. The residents had mobilized and the mayor of Lavaur, Bernard Carayon (Les Républicains), had lodged a complaint.
In March 2022, recalls France Bleu Occitanie, Lucas Crosnier had been placed in police custody for his use of pesticides. The Tarn department was then placed on orange vigilance with strong winds and this practice is prohibited in high winds to prevent the products from being dispersed on neighboring properties.
Shortly after, the domain of Fontorbe had lodged a complaint for denigration against five environmental associations, the Confédération paysanne du Tarn and a director, after the broadcast of the documentary entitled We are smoked out: when the apple poisons our life. The film denounced the risk associated with pesticides during spreading. Last April, the Castres court declared “null” his subpoenas, a decision greeted with jubilation by VNE.
An investigation for “degradation in meeting”
Lucas Crosnier filed a complaint for the uprooting perpetrated this week. The Castres prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “degradation in a meeting”, considering that the extent of the damage was such that it could not have been carried out by a single individual.
Prefecture “Strongly condemns this act”, but makes no connection with the protest held two weeks earlier. The prosecution also considers that the elements “do not allow to determine” whether environmental activists are responsible for the damage.
Political reactions of indignation
Elected officials were quick to react. “Obscurantism and the police of thought and agricultural choices. This is where verbal excess and disinformation lead on subjects that do not support caricature. We will not give in”wrote the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, on Twitter, citing the tweet of the collective Save the fruits and vegetables of France, which brings together market gardeners and arboriculturists.
The mayor of Lavaur told AFP that the march organized by VNE had, according to him, “a direct link” with the damage. “We know that it comes from part of the demonstrators”assured Bernard Carayon, regretting “an obsession of radical environmental activists for a year against these orchards”. The leader of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, has denounced on Twitter of the “acts of destruction and devastation” Who “must now be heavily sanctioned by justice, their authors, systematically sought, prosecuted and condemned”.