Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation
Grain and cattle (dairy and beef) production, which are strongly supported within the framework of a common market organisation, remain widely dispersed over the entire European territory.
Since the 1992 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, direct European subsidies account for more than 25 % of farm revenue.
Currently twelve countries are negotiating their adhesion to the European Union, without plans for future enlargement, in one or several waves, nor a schedule having been established.
More than 126,000 farms, or one-fifth of all the farms in France, are classed in mountain zones in 1997.
French salmoniculture over the last few years has had to adapt to a difficult context : stronger environmental constraints, improvements imposed to respect regulatory standards, competition from Norwegian and Scottish products, an insufficiently strong image for quality.
Agriculture occupies 40 % of Europe’s land. The number of farmers continues to decline, as does the number of family workers, whereas the number of paid farm labourers is rising with the growth in farm size.
In Languedoc-Roussillon the firms in the agri-food sector, a veritable cornerstone of the regional economy, are woven together into a complex tissue : 1,400 firms, 44 billion francs in turnover, 20,000 permanent jobs.
Cattle holdings in France rear almost 20 million head of bovines.
Cattle holdings in France rear almost 20 million head of bovines.
In 1997, a little more than one-third of individual farmers aged at least 50 consider that they know their successors, a slightly higher proportion than in 1990.
Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation