Coronavirus: "I am a breeder, can I move my animals?"

Every day, Le Parisien takes action to answer your questions about the coronavirus. Today we are interested in the questioning of a sheep farmer, who wonders if he can still take out his animals despite the confinement.

Since farmers have never been expected to abandon their animals, they must feed them, take them out and take care of them. This is part of the “business trips that cannot be postponed” that are found in the exceptions listed by the Prime Minister in a decree published on March 24, points out the Chambers of Agriculture website in its Frequently Asked Questions on Covid -19. It is therefore still authorized in the current period, just like, in particular, purchases of basic necessities such as food shopping and individual physical exercise.

"Yes, we always have the right to take our animals out in the meadows. But it is also our duty to continue the activity of breeding farm to be able to feed the population ”, specifies to the Parisian Michèle Baudoin, president of the National Sheep Federation (FNO) and operator in Puy-de-Dôme.

Transhumance "in a supervised manner"

On the other hand, this must be done “at a close distance” and “not with other people or a group of breeders”, adds Henri Bies-Péré, second vice-president of the National Federation of Farmers (FNSEA). If sheep and cows cannot transmit the disease, human contact should still be limited as much as possible.

As for the great transhumances that are announced with the arrival of fine weather, during which the herds change pasture to benefit from better climatic conditions, "they will be done in a supervised manner, with all the usual precautions that the breeders will take" , specifies Michèle Baudoin.

In addition, the farmers have also obtained a derogation to be able to leave their holdings and go "to stock up on material, products and other supplies essential to the good progress of their activity and in an urgent way", as indicated on the site of the Chambers of 'Agriculture. "We have an authorization because we are part of the essential business sectors," adds the president of the FNO.

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