The UFU's office on the continent could not help but utter "Vive la France!" during a visit to France's biggest annual agricultural show the Salon International de l'Agriculture, writes Kay Lee, from the UFU Brussels Office.
Held in the heart of urban Paris, the 9 day extravaganza drew crowds of tens of thousands, including the ubiquitous presence of France's Agriculture Minister, Michel Barnier, who was on hand throughout to promote the farming industry to the general p
ublic.
So France's premier international agriculture show did not disappoint last week and neither did agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.
Just days before the Salon de l'Agriculture Monsieur Barnier announced how exactly he will implement the 'Health Check' of the Common Agricultural Policy, agreed by EU member states in Brussels in November last year.
In short Barnier plans to reallocate €1.4 billion or 18% of the French payments to fund policies that enhance rural economies, sustainable development, risk management and grass based livestock production.
The bulk of this reorientation is towards the livestock sector with support amounting to €980 million. Most of this money has been reallocated from previously coupled support for arable crops and suckler cows and has inevitably resulted in raised eyebrows and voices especially in the crops sector.
On the other hand we are hearing how the news has been music to the ears of some in the French livestock sector. During a recent meeting the President of the ONF, France's national sheep association, told the UFU that these decisions will contribute to a "new dawn" for French sheep farming, after years of perceived neglect.
Obviously with an eye on potential future changes and challenges to the CAP post 2013, Michel Barnier has said that the choices made to implement the Health Check are based on a need to make the CAP more legitimate and sustainable.
He also said that these measures will reduce the differences in the levels of payment between holdings and therefore create a more equitable CAP.
And also thinking about the future, the biggest French farming union, the FNSEA has launched an impressive publicity campaign that involves images of cows wearing baseball caps and sheep sporting Mohican haircuts!
Broadcast on French television in the form of short television adverts, the campaign has captured the imagination of the public.
Agriculture, metiers à la mode (fashionable jobs in agriculture) is the strapline, with the idea of promoting the farming industry as a viable career option for young people.
You too can enjoy the two million euros worth of promotion by going to www.metiersdelagriculture.fr
