French farmers demand emergency funding as wildfires threaten farms and policy reforms loom

The French farm union Confédération paysanne has issued a communiqué calling for immediate state aid to protect agricultural holdings from recent forest and field fires that have prompted evacuations and road closures in several departments. The union urges fast‑track financial support, unbureaucratic payouts and investment in fire‑prevention measures such as field hydrants, vehicle access routes, controlled burning and water supplies, warning that without such help farms face existential risk.

In a related agricultural briefing, French sector groups highlighted additional pressures: a proposed reform to biomethane purchase tariffs that could halt new biogas projects, a sharp drop in national milk collections linked to a June heatwave, and the European Parliament’s decision to drop a safeguard on the carbon‑border adjustment mechanism for fertilizers, a move that farmers fear will raise input costs further.