France's Farmers Are More Productive Than You Might Think

The annual Salon International de l'Agriculture in Paris, which closes its doors today after a nine-day run, can be compared to a fair in a very productive agricultural county in the U.S. You just have to multiply the size by about 100, upgrade the food quality substantially, add copious amounts of wine, trade the stage performances by more or less washed-up pop groups for roving brass bands, add a hall full of vendors trying to sell things to farmers (software, drainage systems, robots, loans, notary services), and subtract the rides. Got it?

I decided to go Thursday because I had seen a photo of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron in the newspaper that morning, gesticulating before a bored-looking cow. He and rival Francois Fillon both attended the Salon de l'Agriculture on Wednesday. Marine Le Pen was there the day before. "Hard left" candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon declined to attend, saying that he "disapproves of the model of industrialized agriculture," but Socialist Benoit Hamon showed up the same day I did. I didn't see him, though.