Access to ownership or rental of agricultural land for French farmers setting up an activity is proving increasingly difficult, in part because of the rising prices fuelled by private and agribusiness investors in mega-farms, and also because of the increasing fragmentation of smallholdings, according to two reports published this week. Both call for the swift introduction of measures to reverse a trend that threatens a profound change in French agriculture. Amélie Poinssot reports.
Timed to coincide with the popular yearly Salon de l’agriculture, the largest agricultural fair in France, two associations have raised the alarm over the profound changes in ownership of agricultural land in France which is making it increasingly difficult, notably for the younger generation, to enter into farming activity.
