French President Emmanuel Macron faced the fiercest opening moments of the Agriculture Show in Paris since taking office in 2017. This annual event, a cornerstone for the country’s primary sector, draws more than 600,000 visitors, and this year it opened under the shadow of a new wave of farmer protests across Europe. From early on, farmers pressed against security lines, entering the exposition before the official start time at nine, just after the president’s arrival, setting a tense mood for the day.
What followed were shouts of discontent, clashes in the crowd, and confrontations between farmers and police. Stands belonging to major food companies like Lactalis suffered damage, while journalists and general attendees found part of the venue blocked by demonstrators, who protested with chants demanding Macron’s resignation. The morning gave way to a chaotic, improvised exchange between union delegates and the head of state, who finally cut the ribbon around noon, roughly four hours past the scheduled opening, under a chorus of boos and jeers from pockets of farmers who had gathered away from the journalists and the public.
On the pause in activity, Macron acknowledged the immediate crisis on the ground. He stated that a crisis would not be resolved within hours and then outlined steps to address the sector’s distress. A key pledge involved setting minimum prices to help safeguard farm incomes, along with an urgent funding plan to support producers facing tight finances. These measures aimed to calm the rising anger from the countryside, even as the event carried on under a cloud of frustration among farmers who felt the government had promised more than it delivered.
Macron later proposed minimum prices pegged to production costs for each branch of the sector. Critics noted that similar ideas had been floated before, including a proposal from the left during a late 2023 parliamentary session that failed to pass, blocking progress under the current coalition. The president also spoke of broader concessions—such as waiving proposed pesticide reductions and resisting the elimination of rural diesel subsidies—while promising to enshrine in law the notion of sovereign food security. Still, supporters and critics alike emphasized that these steps do not fully address the root problem: incomes that remain painfully low in a profession marked by instability and heavy dependence on public and European aid.
Observers wondered whether these concessions would quell the mounting discontent, especially given the backdrop of a tense atmosphere at the Agriculture Show. Philippe Almaric, a 59-year-old member of the main farmers’ union, described the mood as one of long-standing frustration. He cited his own situation, growing garlic, maize, and sunflowers, with monthly earnings around 1,500 euros and a family income shared with his wife. He argued that while Macron announces many policies, the execution at the local level often falls short, leaving farmers skeptical about real improvements. In an interview conducted with a major European newspaper, he underscored the disconnect between national promises and local outcomes, noting that a fair living from farming remains out of reach for many households.
As February ended, road blockades and other protests spread across France, and the movement shifted its attention to the Paris show, inviting a larger audience to witness the demand for change. Dozens of farmers arrived with tractors and set up camp near the exhibition grounds as a demonstration that was expected to extend into the closing days of the event, which runs through early March. The agitation built on a broader pattern of mobilization in the months leading up to the show, reflecting the sense that policy measures were not moving quickly enough to secure livelihoods in rural areas.
The run-up to the inauguration was itself controversial. A postponed debate that would have included farmers, major retailers, and environmental groups set the stage for discontent. The government reportedly sought to involve environmental advocates who have criticized industrial farming, a move that prompted the FNSEA union to boycott the planned session. Macron’s team denied inviting the activist coalition Sublevación de la Tierra, a group known for opposing industrial farming, and the clarification was issued during a day of competing narratives about who had been invited and who had not. The morning’s statements, including Macron’s assurances that such debates would be part of a broader dialogue, illustrated the difficulty of balancing the demands of modern agricultural policy with public perception and political risk. In the end, the episode underscored how the Agriculture Show is no longer simply a celebration of farming but a focal point for national debate about food sovereignty, rural livelihoods, and the role of government in shaping both markets and values in the countryside [attribution: European press pool].