PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) – France on Friday announced more than €1 billion ($1.16 billion) in aid for farmers after this summer’s record heatwaves and droughts devastated crops, pastures and water supplies.
The support comes as the government is working on a politically perilous budget for next year, with Paris seeking to keep the deficit under control ahead of a 2027 presidential election.
“One billion euros represents a massive effort given the current budgetary context,” Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told reporters.
About half of the package — €520 million — will be sent out as rapid payments to help farmers deal with weather damage, she said.
France’s main farmers’ union, the FNSEA, said farmers had already suffered at least €10 billion of lost production. The livestock and arable sectors have already estimated their losses at more than €5 billion each.
“The immediate goal is to manage the emergency,” Genevard said.
About 30,000 to 35,000 farms were in financial trouble, she said.
The aid plan also creates a €235 million recovery fund to help farms buy seeds, plant and animal feed after droughts left farmland parched. Further measures include land-tax relief, help with social-security payments and a fuel subsidy.
The finance ministry has said this summer’s dry and hot weather could shave 0.1 percentage points off France’s economic growth this year, mainly due to lost farming revenue.
Another heatwave is expected this week in the European Union’s largest agricultural producer.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide, Gus Trompiz, Dominique Vidalon, Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Inti Landauro, Tomasz Janowski and Andrew Heavens)
