France’s main farming union threatens protests over fuel aid

France’s largest farmer’s union is threatening protests unless the government increases its fuel aid to the sector following the economic shock caused by rising fuel prices.

Arnaud Rousseau, president of the FNSEA, told delegates at the union’s congress in Caen on Wednesday (April 2) that there would be “no other choice but to remobilise” if the government did not raise its financial support.

At the present, the government has granted only four cents per litre in aid to help French farmers cope with the rise in diesel costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

The agricultural union however is demanding 30 cents per litre.

The fuel aid relates to GNR (gazole non-routier), a specialised form of diesel used for agricultural machinery, such as tractors and combine harvesters.

Mr Rousseau met with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Monday (March 30) to express his concerns.

"My message to the Prime Minister was very clear: we do not want half-measures. We need a 30 cent discount per litre of GNR at the bottom of the fuel bill. Immediately," Mr Rousseau told attendees at the exhibition centre.

In his speech, Mr Rousseau drew attention to the EU’s recent rejection of a request by the French government for the suspension of the European carbon tax on fertilisers.

"We cannot tolerate this," he said. "So, I say, without a response from the minister tomorrow, without any clear movement in the coming days, we will have no other choice but to remobilise."

Diesel and fertiliser prices impacted by war 

Since the start of hostilities between US, Israel and Iran, and in particular since Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz through which around 20% of the world’s oil transits, diesel prices have soared for farmers.

With the strait also the transit point for around 30% of the world’s fertilisers and with the price of fertiliser highly dependent on fuel prices, farmers have also had to contend with rising fertiliser costs.

In an interview on Friday with radio station France Inter, Mr Rousseau said that while at present there was no shortage of fuel on farms, “the primary issue for us is the price,” noting that farmers had been faced with increases of “around 50 to 60 cents” in the price of off-road diesel.

As of Friday (April 3) the average price of off-road diesel was nearly €1.9 per litre, according to figures from French fuel comparison site, Fioulreduc. This compares with €1.6 per litre in February, according to statistics from France’s national statistics agency, Insee.

During the Friday interview Mr Rousseau said that the farmers should at least receive the 15 cents per litre in aid that they were given during the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, which caused a similar energy shock.

At the end of last month, France’s Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard released a range of measures to support farmers contending with the energy rises.

Alongside the four cent per litre aid for fuel prices, the measures included the deferral of farmers’ social security contributions and certain other tax obligations, as well as state-backed loans totalling up to €500 million.

In an interview at the time with broadcaster BFM TV, Ms Genevard said that the energy crisis had revealed “vulnerabilities, particularly our dependence on fertilisers, which are, of course, absolutely essential."

Response from other unions

There are four major farming unions in France; the FNSEA, its youth wing Jeunes Agriculteurs, the right-wing Coordination Rurale and the left-wing Confédération Paysanne.

While none of the other major unions have threatened strike action over the fuel prices, Coordination Rurale has called for a better organised response to the crisis.

In a statement released earlier this week on its website, the union made several proposals to protect its members which included: leaving the European electricity market or de-indexing the price of electricity from that of gas; relocating the production of nitrogen fertilisers to France; and temporarily capping the price of off-road diesel at €1, and introducing a targeted price shield for agricultural gas.

Pierrick Horel, President of the Jeunes Agriculteurs union, told the Caen congress that the price of off-road diesel and fertilisers were “not just accounting entries for farmers” but “daily anxieties that shatter our plans.”

With farmers’ busy spring season underway it is not clear how much appetite there would be for a mass mobilisation, especially so soon after recent widespread protests. 

French farmers began 2026 with nationwide protests that included tractor blockades on major highways and rallies in Paris, in opposition to the EU-Mercosur trade deal.

Largely pushed by the Coordination Rurale, the protests in January saw farmers drive hundreds of tractors through Paris to protest low incomes and the impact of the trade deal with South America. 

More recently, farmers blocked a motorway in Maine-et-Loire in March over concerns about the impact of climate change on their livelihood.