44 Demandez un agriculteur …
Fed up of guessing the answer to questions about the French countryside? Ask David, here he answers some of the questions received.
Q1. We are surrounded by farm land which is hunted, we don't have a problem with the idea of hunting itself, but we do find it a bit worrying that the gun men come so close to the house with loaded guns and it makes it very difficult for us to be out and about in our garden/woodland when this is happening. We are also concerned for our own animals as the hunt dogs seem to be able to pass (often in large groups) through our garden, even appearing at open doors. Are there any rules about what the hunt can and cannot do, close to private houses?
It is very complicated, depending on department/chasse concerned. In general the rules are that the shooters should be 150/200 metres from buildings and shooting away from not them and not towards any buildings. If this is a problem talk to the Marie or Head of Chasse and if no luck visit Gendarmerie and put in a complaint. You could join the national Reserve, i.e., declare a total ban on Hunting on your land; you often see little red signs every 50/100 metres declaring that the land is a reserve.
Q2. The roses that are planted at the end of the rows of vines, are they there to warn of danger or to stop the danger? Is this just an 'old wives' tale'?
Originally, the purpose of the rose was the same as a canary down a mine, detecting a problem before anything else, however, now they are mainly planted for decoration
Q3. If we have a chemin marked on our land - does this give a right of way to vehicles or just to walkers?
This could be complicated and legally it depends on whether it is an old access route to a field in which case it is probably also for the passage of farm vehicles etc., common sense needs to be applied here. Ask at the Marie they should have all the maps of the commune and should be able to help. If they will not commit for some reason then take the sheet number of the Cadastral plan and go and ask at the Prefecture. If it has been decommissioned as have several over our land, they will have the written details of when this occurred.
Q4. We let our neighbouring farmer put his cows in our paddock in the summer, should we have something in writing - we don't charge him and it is all very informal. Sometimes people say that he will end up with rights to it - do you think this is the case?
This should be simple but usually it is not! If you have something in writing or something changes hands, I believe you may create a contract. The best thing is to break it up a bit, i.e. don’t always stick to same dates
each year. If you are really worried then you need to get some local legal advice.
home, such as a few hens, a couple of goats and sheep, is there a point when we have to register with anybody as a small-holding?
Q5. If we keep a few animals at
say it all depends on your intentions if you intend to build up to larger numbers ask to get registered from the very start and insist on it. In my experience people working for the authorities have a habit of forgetting, that they told you not to bother previously, so if you are given such advice try to get something in writing - but this is usually difficult.
Technically if you have one sheep it should be registered, however, if you go to Chambre de Agriculture and ask the question they will probably laugh! I would
Q6. In the UK there is a perception that the agriculture in France is heavily subsidised. Is this the case? Do French farmers receive more assistance than those in the UK?
I could write a book on this one! I think the simple answer is no. It is all relative; there are a greater number of smaller farmers in France, i.e. measuring the Hectares and not height of the individuals! So there are fewer hectares per farmer but more as a whole. If you take wine growers until recently we got no assistance, unlike cereal and livestock farmers. To put the cat among the pigeons I think most farmers in both countries would be happy to do away with so called subsidies and let the free market find the REAL VALUE OF FOOD, but the public wouldn’t like this and that the countryside would change dramatically, particularly in upland areas. What would the public actually chose – the protection of their environment or to just see what the market forces brought about.
David Meakin, runs a vineyard and brewery on his farm Domaine du Merchien, Penchenier, 46230 Belfort du Quercy.
www.merchien.com If you’ve questions to ask do email
info@quercylocal.com
A little of David’s background - After leaving Seale Hayne Agricultural College David went to America via Ohio State University to realise a boyhood dream of working on a combine harvester crew harvesting grain. Then from Texas David travelled to Canada before coming back to England, where he was told by his father to get a real job. By chance he then fell into grain trading.
After several years David decided that he wanted to farm, for himself but being unable to afford to do so in Britain he started to look at France (where he had enjoyed many holidays in the SW). David looked into the young agricultural scheme which was run by the French government. Some 6 years later David finally found a farm that they (now married to Sarah) could afford, with the help of his parents the move was made. That was 17 years ago now and David is still here producing wine and beer.
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