Farmers across France have staged significant protests against the government’s plan to vaccinate one million cattle against lumpy skin disease, blocking highways and dumping manure near public buildings.
The agricultural ministry has ordered large-scale culls following several reported outbreaks of the disease. Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be transmitted to humans but is fatal for cattle, was first detected in France in June.
Government officials have stated that their strategy to eradicate what they describe as a highly contagious disease involves eliminating all animals in affected herds and administering emergency vaccinations within a 50-kilometer radius. Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard has emphasized that the state will compensate farmers for losses and cover operating expenses.
However, several agricultural unions have criticized this approach as ineffective. The left-wing Confédération paysanne called the culling measures “more scary than the illness itself,” urging an immediate end to mass animal deaths and a shift toward increased vaccinations while demanding “blockades across France” to halt the government’s plan.
Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard defended the strategy on Friday, stating that “to save the entire industry, slaughter is the only solution.”
Protests escalated this weekend as farmers blocked toll roads on the A64 motorway in Hautes-Pyrenees and dumped manure near government offices in Tarbes, disrupting vaccination efforts. The government, backed by the main FNSEA farming union, maintains that culling infected herds is necessary to prevent further spread and avoid export bans that could devastate the livestock sector.
In contrast, the rival Coordination Rurale (CR) union opposes systematic culling, advocating for targeted measures and quarantine protocols. Leon Thierry, co-president of CR in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques, stated: “There is no question of culling animals in the Pyrenees that are not sick and are healthy, simply because they belong to a herd from which a supposedly sick animal came.”
