«Producing costs have reached unprecedented highs, yet prices fail to keep up,» reports the Coordination Rurale, the organiser of the demonstration. The union insists that «farms cannot continue without concrete measures.»
Approximately 50 farmers gathered in the Lyon area Monday morning following the Coordination Rurale union’s call to protest the rapid increase in fuel prices caused by the Middle East crisis.
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Following a roadblock involving about 20 tractors at a TotalEnergies refinery loading point in Feyzin, the protesters proceeded under police supervision via the A7 motorway towards the Rhône prefecture.
By 10 a.m., the convoy had arrived in La Mulatière and advanced toward Lyon’s Confluence district, where they caused notable traffic congestion.
The demonstration took place despite a prefectural injunction issued on Sunday that prohibited any marches, processions, or demonstrations in the Feyzin and Édouard-Herriot port zones on Monday.
Authorities referred to industrial safety risks related to the storage and transportation of flammable and hazardous substances near what the prefecture named “key infrastructures in the hydrocarbon supply chain.”
«Producing costs are higher than ever, but prices lag behind.»
The Coordination Rurale (CR), which organised the protest, demands enhanced government intervention to address what it calls “soaring production expenses” and “unmanageable fuel and GNR prices.”
“Production expenses have reached record highs, but prices fail to keep pace,” the union stated, underscoring the increasing strain on farm revenues.
“We refuse to perish silently,” declared Cédric Archer, co-president of Coordination Rurale Haute-Loire.
Mégane, a farmer from Côtes-d’Arey interviewed by AFP, mentioned that agricultural diesel prices had “nearly doubled” since the onset of the Middle East crisis.
“Expectations were that government support would be stronger during the harvest and sowing periods, when diesel consumption and tractor use peak,” she added.
On 21 April, the French government announced €20 million in emergency aid for farmers in distress, including a temporary raise of the GNR rebate to 15 cents per litre throughout May.
The aid package also offers deferred social contributions and tax payments, a “flash fuel loan” for small and medium-sized farms, and a suspension of excise duties on tractor fuel during April.
Preferential tax treatment on agricultural diesel already costs the French government around €1 billion annually.
Nevertheless, farming unions argue these measures fall short of necessities. The FNSEA, France’s largest agricultural union, demands fuel subsidies of 30 cents per litre.
“The current scheme remains insufficient,” noted FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau last Thursday. “GNR prices have surged between 60% and 80% for all farmers, yet the government’s targeted measures will only benefit a small portion.”