French farmer carves ‘HELP’ into his field

Apr 17, 2017

Jacques Fortin says his message is on behalf of all farmers

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A farmer in France turned his wheat field into a giant plea for help.

If politicians across the country won’t hear farmers’ concerns, they’ll see it, says Jacques Fortin, a grain producer near Tours, about two and a half hours from Paris.

Fortin carved ‘HELP’ into his 12-acre wheat field to let politicians know farmers across the country aren’t making ends meet.

Each letter is about 328 feet long and 157 feet wide.

“Political leaders do not listen to us,” the 63-year old told AFP. “They’re deaf to our anger. I hope they’re not blind and will read this message of despair.”

“I live in a world where I have the responsibilities of a chief executive and I live below the poverty threshold,” Fortin told AFP. “It is not normal to live with 350 Euros a month (US$372) when you work every day.”

The French poverty line was set at €1,008 (US$1,072) per month in September 2016, according to figures reported by The Local.

And the average income of French farms was estimated to fall by 26 per cent in 2016. Dairy farmers suffering the most after European milk quotas were removed in April 2015, according to the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

Fortin only makes enough money to eat. He fears there won’t be a future for his son in agriculture, he told RT.

“Most farmers live (in) the same situations,” he told RT.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.