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France will vaccinate 1 million head of cattle in the coming weeks against lumpy skin disease, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on Saturday, as protesting farmers blocked roads in opposition to the government's large-scale culling policy.
"We will vaccinate nearly one million animals in the coming weeks and protect farmers. I want to reiterate that the state will stand by affected farmers, their losses will be compensated as well as their operating losses," Genevard told local radio network ICI.
Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be passed to humans but can be fatal for cattle, first appeared in France in June.
The state's strategy to stamp out what they describe as a very contagious disease has since been to kill all animals in affected herds, as well as "emergency vaccination" of all cattle within a 50-kilometre (30-mile) radius.
Several unions have called that approach ineffective, with the left-wing Confédération paysanne on Friday saying it was "more scary than the illness itself", urging an end to the culls and more vaccinations.
It called for "blockades across France to put an end to this madness".
But the authorities have stood by their plan. "To save the entire industry, slaughter is the only solution," Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard on Friday told Le Parisien newspaper.
Farmers also plan to drive tractors to Brussels on Thursday next week to vent, as the European Union decides whether to authorise a free-trade agreement with South American trade bloc Mercosur.
The so-called Mercosur deal has been two decades in the making.
The pact will allow the European Union to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans into Europe.
In Les Bordes-sur-Arize, regional prefect Herve Brabant said that the brothers who owned the farm had agreed to have the herd slaughtered.
Some 3,000 of the 33,000 cattle in Ariege have already been vaccinated.
The World Organisation for Animal Health says that cases of nodular dermatitis have also been reported in Italy this year. According to the European Food Safety Authority, the disease is present in many African countries.
In 2012, it spread from the Middle East to Greece, Bulgaria and the Balkans. A vaccination programme halted that epidemic. The announcement comes after several outbreaks of the highly contagious disease prompted authorities to order the culling of entire herds, sparking demonstrations by farmers who consider the measure excessive.
Read moreFrench farmers’ union calls for ‘blockades’ as cows slaughtered over skin disease
A portion of the A64 motorway south of Toulouse remained blocked since Friday afternoon, with about 400 farmers and some 60 tractors still in place on Saturday morning, according to local media.
Thousands of farmers in southwestern France blocked roads and set fire to bales of hay Saturday to protest the culling of cows due to a skin disease, as the government said one million cattle would be vaccinated.
Dozens of tractors blocked traffic, while others parked in front of public buildings, as farmers set fire to bales of straw and tyres.
43 demonstrations or incidents across the country
The authorities recorded 43 demonstrations or incidents across the country, bringing together 2,000 protesters, with some of them marked by clashes.
Around a hundred farmers gathered in Carbonne located some 40 kilometres southwest of Toulouse, setting up camp on the A64 highway.
"They deploy riot police to kill 200 cows, but you don't see them at the drug-dealing spots!" said Benjamin Kalanquin, 24, who works not far from the farm where the entire herd was slaughtered.
"Total slaughter is not the solution," he said, vowing to camp on the motorway until Christmas "if there is no convincing response". "People are fed up," added Benjamin Roquebert, 37.
"You can't build up a herd in five minutes," added the cattle breeder and grain producer. "It's a lifetime of work, spanning several generations." The protesters also say the government is not doing enough to protect them.
The European Union next week expected to sign on to a trade deal with South America that farmers say will flood the market with cheap agricultural products that will outcompete them.
"We're struggling, we can't eat, we can't even make 1,000 euros a month," said another protester, Aurelien Marti.
The government, backed by the main FNSEA farming union, maintains that total culling of infected herds is necessary to prevent the disease from spreading and triggering export bans that would devastate the sector.
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But the Coordination Rurale, a rival union, opposes the systematic culling approach, calling instead for targeted measures and quarantine protocols.
"Vaccination will be mandatory because vaccination is protection against the disease," Genevard said, adding that complete culling remains necessary in some cases because the disease can be asymptomatic and undetectable.
France detected 110 outbreaks across nine departments and culled about 3,000 animals, according to the agriculture ministry. It has paid nearly six million euros to farmers since the first outbreak on June 29.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)