Fire in Aude: Minister of Agriculture stands with affected winegrowers

In a vineyard in the Aude region damaged by last week's exceptional fire, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard met with affected winegrowers and elected officials on Thursday, August 14, to whom she expressed "national solidarity" with the Corbières region.

On the edge of the wine-growing village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, one of the worst hit by the fire , partially burnt vines stretch out at the foot of the hill covered in ash.

"This trauma (...) has a profound impact on the population, the farmers, and beyond that on the whole country," the minister told elected officials and winegrowers. "The meaning of the Prime Minister's visit (on August 6, editor's note), as well as my visit, is also an expression of national solidarity with your region."

Already overwhelmed by climatic and economic hazards, the winegrowers of Corbières, devastated by this "catastrophe of unprecedented scale" , in the words of François Bayrou during his visit at the start of the fire, are awaiting aid from the government, which the Minister of Agriculture is due to announce on Thursday.

"In the face of this disaster, we must ask ourselves the right questions and provide appropriate answers" regarding "crop choices, production, agricultural activity, and water supply," she added. She also called for "this area to truly become a place of expertise."

According to the minister, we need "feedback to know where it burned, what burned, why in certain places it did not burn, so that we can truly think about the future."

Winegrowers highlight the essential role played by the ever-present vines as fire breaks , which limit or stop the spread of fires.

The fire, of exceptional magnitude, covered 16,000 hectares in two days, destroyed 36 houses, around twenty agricultural sheds and devastated 1,000 to 1,500 hectares of vines, just a few weeks before the harvest.

During her first visit, Annie Genevard is expected to announce emergency measures and the first assessment of the damage, in the context of a persistent wine crisis. A meeting began at midday, devoted to these "emergency measures" but also to "sustainable solutions to rebuild and strengthen the resilience of affected farms" , according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

"We hope that the budget will be substantial (...) Legally, the fire is neither a natural disaster nor an agricultural calamity, so national solidarity must play its role," says Ludovic Roux, president of the Aude Chamber of Agriculture.

Beyond the consequences of this fire, which was the most significant on the French Mediterranean coast for half a century, he pleads for the State to grant special status to the department.

"Here, we are not in Beauce," he explains . "It is difficult to be profitable in a Mediterranean area like the Corbières, due to the drought and the climate. We need specific support, a compensatory allowance for climatic handicaps, like the mountain areas which benefit from a compensatory allowance for natural handicaps within the framework of the common agricultural policy."

Decline in wine consumption, rise in production costs, drop in income despite uprooting intended to support the price of wine... "we hope that the fire will create an electroshock. If agriculture declines, it will cost the State more," warns Ludovic Roux.

In addition to the vineyard edges destroyed by the flames, oenologists will have to determine whether the spared grapes can still be vinified, because prolonged exposure to smoke alters their taste.

For FNSEA vice-president Jérôme Despey, "the destroyed vines are mostly insured. But losses linked to non-conformity of the wines due to smoke or retardant, insurance companies do not cover that a priori."

"Field reports indicate that 1,000 to 1,500 hectares have been severely impacted (...) that is to say, with losses of funds, losses of harvests, vines that have received a retardant product, that have been exposed for several days to smoke," declared Jérôme Despey, who is also a winegrower and president of the specialist Wine and Cider Council of FranceAgriMer, on Tuesday.