2023-06-12 09:29:00
Be careful if you are passing through Namur this morning. The Walloon Federation of Agriculture organizes a procession of tractors. They come from all over the country and will pass in front of each cabinet to ask for administrative simplification and more flexible rules to be able to produce on their own land.
“The Walloon government cannot and does not want to come forward to give guarantees to farmers, it cannot and does not want to promise them that they will still be able to continue their profession in a correct, financially balanced way and in respect of the efforts that “they already supply on a daily basis. And for the FWA, this lack of guarantee is unacceptable”, writes the federation in a press release.
“I don’t see the point”
Pierre, a farmer in Ohey for more than 40 years, testifies and explains why he will be impacted by the new standards. Its terrain is not flat enough and the risk of flooding is increased. “When I speak to colleagues, they tell me ‘The land where you live is not particularly steep land’ but here I am affected by more than 60% of the exploitation in relation to the erosion directive”he announces.
For him, these new standards are not consistent with reality.e. “Normally, we should cut the land according to the slopes, install grassy strips on top. capture the possible flow of water”says the farmer. “We are also supposed to separate the blocks and put different cultures in these blocks. So we can no longer put two cultures of the same species, even if they are separated.”
He will take part in the procession in Bovesse which will leave for the Walloon Parliament, with his disgruntled colleagues. “There are people even more impacted than us, who have black land, which means that it would be dedicated solely to grazing, no more ploughing, no more mineral amendments… And even the impact on the animal world will be felt since we will no longer be able to manage the meadows in the same way as we have always done ancestrally.”
The procession left at 9.30 a.m. near Carrefour Didi
manifestation
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