The fall in the number of cows raised in France is reflected in a “shortage” of French beef and an increase in imports, the federation of farmers (FNB) warned on Wednesday.
This specialized federation of the majority union FNSEA brings together the producers of suckler cows, that is, raised for meat.
In a context of unreplaced retirements, work stoppages and climate risks, cattle in France, the main producer of beef in Europe, contract: -11% in six years.
France has lost 837,000 cows (dairy and suckler) since 2016, including 494,000 suckler cows, the FNB detailed, citing figures from the French Livestock Institute (Idele).
Polish imports
This “decapitalization”, according to the term used in the profession, leads to a “shortage of French beef” even if consumption is stable, Bruno Dufayet stressed.
Result: manufacturers, who slaughter fewer French cows, import meat, especially from Poland, to run their processing plants and supply the domestic market.
According to an economic report from the FranceAgriMer establishment, beef imports increased, in September 2022, by 15.3% in one year. A quarter of the beef consumed in France is imported, compared to less than 20% a few years earlier.
“Sheep experienced this in the 1980s,” Mr Dufayet noted, recalling that more than half of the lamb meat consumed in France is now imported.
According to the Cantal breeder, manufacturers are just beginning to worry about the lack of raw material, insofar as slaughterhouses are so far largely supplied by breeders who want to part with their animals.
“From now on, the security of supply of each company is at stake,” said Emmanuel Bernard, vice president of the FNB and president of the beef section of the meat interprofessional Interbev.
The president of the FNB recalled that the slaughterhouses were required for a year to offer them contracts. These would have the merit of “ensuring the income of the producers and the supply” of the slaughterhouses.
“We are not going to reverse the trend, but we must try to stop” the decline in livestock, pleaded the farmer.
Source: BFM TV
