The Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced this Friday a tax exemption measure in favor of livestock farmers, who have seen their taxes increase due to the increase in the value of their livestock.
“In the 2024 budget, an exceptional measure of support for French livestock farming will take the form of a provision of 150 euros per cow, up to 15,000 euros per farm, or one hundred cows, in order to reduce the taxation of farmers that results of the increase in the value of its shares,” said Bruno Le Maire in an interview with the regional newspaper Mountain. “This is a strong demand from the livestock world. In these times of budget scarcity we still wanted to access it,” added the one who was Minister of Agriculture from 2009 to 2012.
“Several tens of millions of euros”
During a visit to the Livestock Summit in Cournon-d’Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme), Bruno Le Maire specified that the measure would cost “several tens of millions of euros.” This tax exemption was demanded by the FNSEA, the majority agricultural union, which highlights that with inflation the book value of cows increases, which ultimately increases farmers’ taxes. From an accounting point of view, cows are “fixed stock.”
“We must stop the decapitalization (decline, ed.) of French cattle,” said Bruno Le Maire at the Livestock Summit. “We must stop this hemorrhage as we have managed in recent years to stop industrial hemorrhage.”
In fact, this measure is seen as a means to combat the decline in livestock numbers and the decline in French beef and milk production. Without tax exemption, “breeders could be tempted to sell some cows” to reduce their tax, which risks causing a “loss of production capacity,” FNSEA president Arnaud Rousseau said Wednesday during a Press conference.
The mayor asks distributors and manufacturers to make an effort
Although professionals also fear paying the price of the Government’s willingness to reduce the cost of food, the minister assured that he will “guarantee the defense of the interests” of farmers during the annual negotiations between supermarkets and their main agri-food suppliers.
Bercy is currently drafting a bill to bring forward the start date of these negotiations in the hope of lowering on-shelf prices more quickly. “The fall in prices on the shelves should not result from an effort by producers but from an effort by distributors and manufacturers,” said Bruno Le Maire this Friday.
Source: BFM TV
