From the headquarters of FranceAgriMer, Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, opened the first aid scheme for animal feed endowed with 308.5 million euros.
Article continues below
Developed as part of the Resilience Plan to cope with the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, it aims to offset part of the additional animal feed costs of breeders and fish farmers in mainland France (excluding Corsica). It will be supplemented in the coming weeks by two other systems: one for the sectors being integrated and another for the overseas departments and Corsica.
The war situation in Ukraine is causing major disruptions in the supply of our economy, particularly for agricultural raw materials such as cereals and vegetable proteins, necessary for feeding animals in breeding.
To deal with this situation, the Government has therefore allocated exceptional aid of 400 mill
on euros, supplemented by 89 million euros from the European crisis reserve. Mobilized around three mechanisms, it will make it possible to absorb for four months (March 15 – July 15) part of the increases in animal feed costs before they are passed on in trade negotiations thanks to the EGalim 2 law.
Alongside agents from FranceAgriMer and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau has therefore officially launched the first system which is now accessible for filing a file on the FranceAgriMer portal until 17 June 2022.
The Minister wanted to come and thank those who enabled the rapid deployment of this system and will ensure its full implementation with the decentralized services of the Ministry.
This first system, born of extensive consultation with stakeholders, and validated by the European Commission on May 10, could benefit more than 100,000 breeders this summer.. In concrete terms, the amount of this aid will vary between 1,000 and 35,000 euros per farm, depending on the dependence on the purchase of animal feed according to the following three levels:
Category 1: between 10% (included) and 30% (excluded) dependency rate, the breeder will receive a lump sum of 1,000 euros;
Category 2: between 30% (included) and 50% (excluded) dependency rate, the breeder will benefit from coverage of the additional cost at 40%;
Category 3: with a dependency rate greater than 50%, the breeder will benefit from coverage of the additional cost of 60%.
The additional animal feed cost will be calculated on the basis of the amount of animal feed purchased over the reference period from March 16, 2021 to July 15, 2021 inclusive, with the application of a single rate reflecting the forecast increases in food costs in 2022, set at 40%.
This aid, provided for in the Resilience Plan presented by the Government on March 16, 2022 , should allow the sustainability of French livestock sectors particularly affected by the cost of food.
In this same issue of food sovereignty, support for the cultivation of vegetable proteins has been deployed and cultivation on fallow land for the current CAP campaign is permitted. ■