Around fifteen Bigard slaughterhouses were blockaded by farmers angry about falling prices.

Cattle farmers have launched a blockade targeting around fifteen slaughterhouses belonging to the Bigard group to protest the drop in meat purchase prices. Called by the National Federation of Cattle Breeders (FNB), the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA), and the Young Farmers, the protesters accuse the main French player in the sector of insufficiently compensating producers despite a decline in livestock supply.

According to agricultural organizations, the price decline is not justified by market conditions. They point out that beef consumption has fallen by only 0,6% since the beginning of the year and that imports have also decreased, while French production continues to decline due to a shrinking herd. Farmers believe this situation should have supported prices rather than caused them to fall.

Farmers are demanding better pay

Through this mobilization, the unions are demanding higher prices for producers and denouncing the imbalance in trade relations within the meat industry. They believe that livestock farms are seeing their profit margins shrink while their production costs remain high, and that periods of drought are further jeopardizing their operations.

The Bigard Group, France's leading beef slaughterer and processor, once again finds itself at the center of tensions between industry and producers. These blockades come amidst a debate on farmers' compensation, just days after the adoption of the emergency agricultural law, which notably includes provisions for piloting measures designed to better regulate prices between producers and buyers.