Farmers in southwest France blocked major roads overnight from Friday to Saturday, setting fire to hay bales and clashing with police in protest at government‑ordered cattle culls linked to an outbreak of lumpy skin disease.
Issued on: 13/12/2025 - 08:14
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Farmers block part of the A64 motorway, during a demonstration in Carbonne, south-western France, on December 12, 2025. AFP - VALENTINE CHAPUI
According to authorities, two police officers were slightly injured when law enforcement used tear gas to disperse demonstrators occupying sections of the A64 motorway near Lescar and Carbonne.
The motorway was partially closed as dozens of tractors formed barricades and farmers said they would maintain the blockade through the weekend.
The protests mark a surge of anger across France’s farming sector, already under pressure from successive animal health crises and mounting economic strain.
Earlier this week, veterinary teams, accompanied by police, culled 207 cows in the département of Ariège after a new outbreak was detected.
French farmers protest over compulsory cattle culls amid disease outbreak
Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard defended the measures as “the only way to save the entire livestock sector.”
But the Confédération paysanne union condemned the government’s approach as “more frightening than the disease itself,” calling for nationwide blockades and widespread vaccination instead of mass slaughter.
The crisis coincides with renewed cases of avian flu in the Landes region, a key poultry‑producing area. Farmers are also warning of the potential impact of the pending EU‑Mercosur trade agreement, which they fear would open the door to unfair competition from South American producers operating under looser standards.
With possible cuts to EU farm subsidies under discussion and France facing a trade deficit for the first time in half a century, rural discontent is showing no sign of abating.
(With newswires)
According to authorities, two police officers were slightly injured when law enforcement used tear gas to disperse demonstrators occupying sections of the A64 motorway near Lescar and Carbonne.
The motorway was partially closed as dozens of tractors formed barricades and farmers said they would maintain the blockade through the weekend.
The protests mark a surge of anger across France’s farming sector, already under pressure from successive animal health crises and mounting economic strain.
Earlier this week, veterinary teams, accompanied by police, culled 207 cows in the département of Ariège after a new outbreak was detected.
French farmers protest over compulsory cattle culls amid disease outbreak
Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard defended the measures as “the only way to save the entire livestock sector.”
But the Confédération paysanne union condemned the government’s approach as “more frightening than the disease itself,” calling for nationwide blockades and widespread vaccination instead of mass slaughter.
The crisis coincides with renewed cases of avian flu in the Landes region, a key poultry‑producing area. Farmers are also warning of the potential impact of the pending EU‑Mercosur trade agreement, which they fear would open the door to unfair competition from South American producers operating under looser standards.
With possible cuts to EU farm subsidies under discussion and France facing a trade deficit for the first time in half a century, rural discontent is showing no sign of abating.
(With newswires)
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