French farmers torch tyres in roadblock protest over prices

French farmers blocked a national motorway with a pile of smouldering tyres in a protest over low prices.

The RN12 national motorway between Saint-Brieuc and Rennes came to a standstill after furious farmers blocked the road with concrete barriers and burning tyres.

According to local reports, more than 100 farmers used 30 tractors to block the route in the western region of Brittany on 20 January.

See also: French farmers spray straw on cars in prices protest

The protest was organised by France’s leading national farmers union, the FDSEA.

French newspaper Le Monde reported on Friday (22 January) that the roadblock was still in place on Friday evening on the RN12, near Guingamp. A second blockade had been set up on the N164 at Mûr-de-Bretagne.

© Jean-Marc David/SIPA/REX Shutterstock

For several months, French farmers have been staging sporadic protests about the low prices they are receiving for milk, meat – especially pork products – and some vegetables, which are well below the cost of production.

In July, the French government announced a €600m (£422m) package of emergency help to placate farmers. But farmers are demanding more from government, saying they cannot afford to pay their bills.

Further similar protests, led by FDSEA and including young farmers groups (les Jeunes agriculteurs) were expected to take place in the western region of France on Monday (25 January).

Meanwhile, the NFU has warned that a ruthless price war is “decimating UK dairy farms”.

© Jean-Marc David/SIPA/REX Shutterstock

Arla is the latest milk buyer to drop its price – members will see their price drop by 0.75p/litre from 1 February. This comes on the back of increasing UK and EU milk supplies and a stagnant, if not depressed, global market.

NFU dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said: “With no sign of a market upturn in coming months, we will inevitably see a large number of dairy farmers leave the industry. No-one can continue to produce milk at a loss.

“It is a bloodbath and those suffering the most are our hardworking dairy farmers.

“I would urge every dairy farmer out there to seriously look at his or her own business and question whether it can survive another period of low milk prices.

“And milk buyers. We want confirmation you are not taking advantage of the current market downturn and doing all you can to add value to every litre of British milk.”