France has unveiled more than €1 billion in emergency assistance for farmers after a record-breaking summer of heat and severe drought caused billions of euros in agricultural losses.
The government announced the CASI package last week, with Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard saying the funding was needed both to compensate farmers for immediate losses and protect France’s future agricultural production.
“The country faces a double imperative: compensate for losses to avoid bankruptcies and restart agricultural production,” Genevard said.
“If we structurally lose productive capacity, we will lose landscapes, market share, sovereignty and quality products.”
Some crop producers have reported losses of up to 80%, while livestock farmers have been hit by shortages of animal feed after drought left pastures and farmland severely depleted.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had described agriculture as his 'number one priority' as the government prepared its 2027 budget.
The support comes as the French Government prepares the 2027 budget while attempting to keep the national deficit under control ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Genevard acknowledged the scale of the commitment.
“One billion euros represents a massive effort given the current budgetary context,” Genevard said.
Around €520 million of the package will be used for rapid payments to farmers affected by weather damage.
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Another €30 million will be made available through the agricultural disaster scheme to compensate for losses that cannot be insured, including damage to permanent crops and vineyards.
The package also establishes a €235m agricultural recovery fund designed to help farmers purchase seeds, plants and animal feed, giving drought-hit farms the resources needed to restart production.
Additional measures include €330m in land-tax relief, assistance with social-security payments and a possible extension of support for fertiliser and non-road agricultural diesel.
The government said the funding would become available from this week, with regional authorities responsible for determining how the money is distributed.