French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on Sunday she will travel to the south-west of France on Monday to attend the start of the vaccination campaign for cattle herds, as angry farmers block key roads in protest at the government’s handling of lumpy skin disease.
Issued on: 14/12/2025 - RFI
Tractors block the A64 motorway between Bayonne and Pau during a protest called by French farmers unions Coordination Rurale and ELB (Euskal Herriko Laborarien Batasuna) in Urt southwestern France on December 13, 2025. AFP - GAIZKA IROZ
The farm union Coordination Rurale has vowed to maintain the blockades until authorities halt the slaughter of entire herds where cases of the disease have been detected.
“This is a challenge we will take up with farmers: to vaccinate one million head of cattle as quickly as possible because that is the way to fight the disease, and this vaccination is crucial,” Genevard told Europe 1 radio. “I will go there tomorrow, as I did in Savoie, Haute-Savoie and the Jura, to attend the start of the vaccination campaign. It is a path of hope to avoid the culling of herds,” she added.
According to Vinci Autoroutes, traffic in the south-west remains heavily disrupted between Toulouse and Bayonne. The A64 motorway is partially closed, with farmers blocking lanes in the Basque Country and near Carbonne, the birthplace of the January 2024 farmers’ protest. Disruptions have also been reported on the A75 and national roads.
In the Gironde département, a convoy set off on Sunday morning from the south of Bordeaux towards the city. “The blockade is up; the motorway is littered with debris, and trailers are full of anything that can burn,” said Léon Thierry, co-president of Coordination Rurale in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, speaking to French press agency AFP by phone from the A64 between Briscous and Urt. “There were 400 to 500 people here on Saturday night, tractors are still arriving – we’re not ready to give up.”
Farmers clash with police in southwest France over mass cattle culls and trade fears
In the Rhône Valley, a blockade north of Montélimar was lifted shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to Louis Petiton Saint Mard, co-president of Coordination Rurale 26.
Since lumpy skin disease appeared in France in June, the government’s containment strategy has included the slaughter of affected herds, movement restrictions, and emergency vaccination within a 50-kilometre radius around outbreak sites.
An additional one million cattle will now be vaccinated across eight south-western départements designated as regulated zones, on top of the million already treated – at a cost of €20 million, according to the agriculture ministry.
(With newswires)
The farm union Coordination Rurale has vowed to maintain the blockades until authorities halt the slaughter of entire herds where cases of the disease have been detected.
“This is a challenge we will take up with farmers: to vaccinate one million head of cattle as quickly as possible because that is the way to fight the disease, and this vaccination is crucial,” Genevard told Europe 1 radio. “I will go there tomorrow, as I did in Savoie, Haute-Savoie and the Jura, to attend the start of the vaccination campaign. It is a path of hope to avoid the culling of herds,” she added.
According to Vinci Autoroutes, traffic in the south-west remains heavily disrupted between Toulouse and Bayonne. The A64 motorway is partially closed, with farmers blocking lanes in the Basque Country and near Carbonne, the birthplace of the January 2024 farmers’ protest. Disruptions have also been reported on the A75 and national roads.
In the Gironde département, a convoy set off on Sunday morning from the south of Bordeaux towards the city. “The blockade is up; the motorway is littered with debris, and trailers are full of anything that can burn,” said Léon Thierry, co-president of Coordination Rurale in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, speaking to French press agency AFP by phone from the A64 between Briscous and Urt. “There were 400 to 500 people here on Saturday night, tractors are still arriving – we’re not ready to give up.”
Farmers clash with police in southwest France over mass cattle culls and trade fears
In the Rhône Valley, a blockade north of Montélimar was lifted shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to Louis Petiton Saint Mard, co-president of Coordination Rurale 26.
Since lumpy skin disease appeared in France in June, the government’s containment strategy has included the slaughter of affected herds, movement restrictions, and emergency vaccination within a 50-kilometre radius around outbreak sites.
An additional one million cattle will now be vaccinated across eight south-western départements designated as regulated zones, on top of the million already treated – at a cost of €20 million, according to the agriculture ministry.
(With newswires)
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