“Having the earth in my blood”, but a difficult daily life
What is striking when listening to the farmers and breeders interviewed in “Terres d’Avenir” is how much they are passionate about their profession.
But having your own farm involves long working days and a lot of constraints.
Jean-Philippe, a breeder in the Lot, considers it essential to change this charge to attract a new generation of farmers: “
We cannot explain [to young people] that on the one hand, people work 35 hours a week, and for theirs, it will be 70 hours without leave!
» In 2023, Julia and Aurélien, at the head of a Label Rouge pig farm, took two weeks of leave for the first time in 20 years instead of just one.
Since 2020, thanks to the Lidl solidarity fund which contributes to the Farmers' Replacement Service, 9,000 days of leave have been financed for farmers engaged in a tripartite approach with Lidl, like Julia and Aurélien.
Join together to create more value and increase your remuneration
Régis, a breeder in Normandy, discusses another essential subject: ensuring fair remuneration for his work.
“
When I sell an animal for €2.50 per kilo, and my wife buys roast for €20 per kilo from the butcher, I tell myself that we take the producers for jokes!
»
By signing a tripartite contract with Lidl, Régis increased his remuneration to 3.60 euros per kilo, a gain of 150 euros per animal.
Élise, a dairy cow breeder in Pays de Caux, confirms: “
Thanks to the contract with Lidl […] we earn €250 to €300 more per animal sold.
»
Same story with Jean-Philippe, co-founder of the Cant'Avey'Lot cooperative who signed a tripartite contract with Lidl.
“
Today, we pay our milk producers between 55 and 57 cents per liter of milk, one of the highest salaries in France.
Lidl is very important because it represents between 3.5 and 4 million liters of milk in 2023!
»
The Lidl tripartite contract, how does it work?
Respecting the environment, a priority for farmers
The “Terres d’Avenir ”
podcast
also shows the commitment of the agricultural world to participate in the fight against global warming and preserve biodiversity.
Thanks to a carbon assessment of her farm, Audrey, a Limousin cow breeder in eastern France, realized that her hectares of meadows absorb 500 tonnes of carbon more than the farm emits.
“
We market this difference in the form of carbon credits to companies that want to offset their carbon footprint, such as Lidl.
The objective is virtuous, and brings us additional remuneration
” explains Audrey.
Béatrice and Patrick, potato farmers in Champagne, are pioneers of regenerative agriculture.
In 2021, they joined the Lidl “Lands of Progress” range.
“
We realized that there was real sense in their approach,
” says Patrick, who appreciates the support provided by the brand to the young regenerative agriculture sector.
Clara, beekeeper and director of the Biodiversity Network for Bees (RBA), also appreciates Lidl's contribution to the Coup d'Pousse project, which works to create honey fallows on farms.
Since 2021, Lidl has provided farmers with free flowering fallow seedlings to shelter and feed pollinators.
“
We went from a few hectares distributed to 721 with Lidl, it’s crazy!
» Clara enthuses.
Curious to know more about Lidl's commitments to agriculture and the environment?
Come to the 2024 International Agricultural Show on the Lidl stand to meet partner farmers and taste 100% French products!
Find the different episodes of the podcast here
, and take a trip to the French regions, to meet the producers who cultivate them.