While almost one in two farmers will retire within ten years, a government amendment to the finance bill currently under discussion, proposing the establishment of a guarantee fund of 2 billion euros to help the installation of new farmers has just been adopted.
The principle: guarantee bank loans requested by aspiring farmers to facilitate their access to financing at a time when inflation, particularly in land, makes it more difficult to take over or create farms.
Planned in the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, which will increase by 15% in 2024, to nearly 7 billion euros, this form of agricultural state-guaranteed loan (PGE) will notably be reduced to 20% (400 million ) towards livestock farms, particularly dairy or beef, particularly affected by the lack of buyers.
“The terms of deployment of this measure (planned as part of the agricultural orientation bill expected in Parliament in December, Editor’s note) will be specified by decree,” added the office of the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, on Wednesday. These loans can be accessed via traditional banks or public banking structures.
While the number of agricultural operations fell by 20% between 2010 and 2020, the question of the transfer and installation in France of new operators is at the heart of the future agricultural orientation bill. Just like those of access to land, training and ecological transition (reduction of inputs, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, etc.).