French Grain Producers Set Up a Fund to Aid Livestock Breeders

France’s grain-grower organizations set up a fund to provide financing to modernize the country’s livestock industry.

The fund will be based on voluntary contributions by grain growers, Philippe Pinta, the head of the French association of wheat producers, said at a press conference in Paris today. The four organizations behind the initiative are proposing a contribution of 2 euros ($2.59) for every metric ton of grain sold in the 2012-13 season.

“The goal is to help the producers in order to help the industry,” Pinta said.

France’s livestock breeders consume a third of the country’s wheat production, 50 percent of French corn and 60 percent of its barley, according to a presentation by the grain- producer groups.

The goal of the fund is to provide subsidies to help livestock breeders modernize their business, for example by investing in renewable energy for buildings and improving animal genetics, according to Pinta.

French livestock breeders have become less competitive compared to those in neighboring countries, resulting in falling investment for example in the pork industry, according to the grain growers.

The meat industry’s negotiating clout with retailers is weaker in France than in other countries, according to a statement handed out by the groups at the press conference. The industry has been weakened by falling prices and increased feed costs, the grain producers wrote.

Poultry production in France fell 17 percent between 2000 and 2011, and pig slaughter dropped 14 percent, according to the grain growers. At the same time, poultry and pig output rose in Germany and Spain, they said.

The fund was set up by the Association Generale des Producteurs de Ble, the Association Generale des Producteurs de Mais, Coop de France and the Federation du Negoce Agricole.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net