Farmers protesting in Toulouse, France, on January 16, 2024, with tractors bearing placards that read ‘Macron still an effort, soon all farmers will be dead’. Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Reuters

Explainer: Why are French farmers protesting?

Many farmers feeling pinched by costs, imports, environmental regulations and disregarded by French society

French farmers are blocking roads across the country to demand government action to address numerous grievances, as protests in the European Union's agricultural sector spread. Here are some of the issues that have prompted the growing protest movement and how the government could respond.

Heavy rain hits French winter seeding

Heavy rain hits French winter seeding

French grain sowings slow and crop ratings fall after heavy rain

Reuters – Winter grain sowings made little progress and crop ratings fell in France during the second week of November, farm office FranceAgriMer data showed Nov. 17. It is a sign that heavy rainfall took a toll on crops in the European Union’s biggest grain grower. French farmers had sown 71 per cent of the expected soft wheat