The infernal race of milk producers, by Maëlle Mariette (Le Monde diplomatique, February 2021)
In a gigantic building of five thousand square meters, hundreds of cows that will never tread the grass roam under large fans-foggers that rotate silently. At regular intervals, small carts travel through the farmhouse on their rails, circulating from one storage silo to another, mixing food and distributing rations. In the barn, renamed " stable », the cows come and go around four imposing red machines. They are trading robots. Attracted by a ration of pellets, they come there at any time of the day and night, letting the doors close along their sides. The process is fully automated: the robot first identifies the cow using its electronic collar, then it detects the location of its udders using an integrated camera. Cleaned of their dirt by a cleaning roller, these are then scanned by a red 3D laser which determines the location of the udders to the nearest millimetre. The machine then places its teat cups there: milking can begin.
In this month of September 2020, an open day is organized at the Moulins de Kerollet farm, in Arzal, in Morbihan. Mr. Erwan Garrec, a dairy farmer in his forties, drove an hour to attend this demonstration of the latest milking robot from the market-leading Lely brand. Investing in such a system, is to offer the services of a “model employee”, capable of milking your cows twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for many years “, praises the brochure of the group. " It frees up your time and frees you from the constraints of milking “, Comments a seller of the stand, before specifying:” At the slightest anomaly or failure, you receive an alert on your smartphone. » Thanks to its continuous milking system, this robot « makes it easy to increase your production from 10 to 15 % ".
Mr. Garrec does not have a smartphone, but he dreams of the freedom that such technology would offer, he who takes care of a hundred dairy cows alone and works tirelessly for more than fifteen hours a day, three hundred and sixty -five days a year. But freedom has a price: to afford the services of one of these " model employees » would involve spending 150,000 euros, not counting the 12,000 euros per year for maintenance and the fitting-out work to be carried out in the building. It would also have to be changed every ten years. And, as the automaton saturates from about sixty cows, its exploitation would require two. The seller reassures him: For the loan, we can arrange. Crédit Agricole encourages its customers to modernize. We know them well. »
Loans, Mr. Garrec has already contracted several. For its building, first. As he had to double the number of his cows in order to guarantee the survival of his farm, he had to expand the family farm, which was no longer enough: a larger milking parlour, a second silo to store more corn. And, as more corn was needed, it was necessary to double the number of hectares intended to produce it, and therefore to acquire new tractors. Mr. Garrec now produces one million liters of milk per year, three times more than the average French dairy farmer.
" We take risks, we invest »
Such a performance involves a daily race against the clock. Every morning, Mr. Garrec runs across the hundred meters of pasture that separates his house – built on one of the plots of his farm – from the building where the cows are. Dressed in overalls, a bucket in his hand, he runs again, this time from one end to the other of his two thousand square meter stable where the nauseating smell of corn silage floats (1). His gestures are repetitive and adjusted to the nearest centimeter, to save precious seconds. This morning, he takes a quick look at his watch and says, " It's ok, we're in the nails ! »
" Thanks to this feed, the cows perform better “, he explains to us. And then, grazing them would be time-consuming, because there are so many of them. But this diet is expensive. Corn, which comes from its surrounding fields, constitutes its " largest expense item »: it requires seeds, inputs, irrigation and agricultural work – outsourced for lack of time.
Corn silage being devoid of protein, the rations distributed to cows are accompanied by genetically modified soybean pellets from Latin America, as well as powdered minerals and trace elements. Mr. Garrec's cows are prim'Holsteins, a breed reputed to be the most productive in the world. " The problem is that they are fragile. There are therefore significant veterinary costs. However, the breeder was able to improve the productivity of his herd by using the services of the Évolution insemination and animal genetics cooperative. Its catalog of more than a hundred bulls makes it possible to improve the performance of cows, for example by adapting their morphology (size and height of the udder, in particular) to the characteristics of the milking machine. This does not prevent 30 % of the herd goes to the slaughterhouse each year because of non-standard udders and unsuitable udders. The proportion would rise to 50 % with Lely Astronaut robot calibration.
" We have a repetitive job like that of a worker. But we are our own boss. We take risks, we invest, we make a lot of people live and work “, develops Mr. Garrec by tirelessly connecting his cows to the milking machines. To tell the truth, it is first Lactalis, world number one in dairy products and thirteenth agri-food group on the planet, that our farmer supports. " There, I am producing the milk for the month of September, but I do not yet know at what price I will sell it. " Because, in the sector, it is the customer (here Lactalis, but it is the same with its competitors) who sets the price and who invoices the product, sending the producer every month his " milk pay ". The contract that binds the two parties does not fix the price, but the number of liters that must be produced.
It is 1 a.m. when Mr. Garrec's mad dash comes to an end. After the evening milking, he turns off the building light and walks through the pastures in the opposite direction, in the dark night, guided by the light from his phone, two bottles of milk still warm in his hand. Exhausted, he swallows, before going to bed, a Nesquik in which he has thrown semolina: “ It takes five minutes. In a few hours, everything begins again.
Like most breeders in the region, and like line workers, Mr. Garrec does not know what will become of the fruit of his labor: “ Mozzarella or powdered milk, maybe ? And it is a matter of not expressing reservations about the end products, nor, above all, of protesting against the company, even when it imposes conditions on breeders that are hardly compatible with their survival. As explained by Mr. Bernard Le Bihan, a dairy farmer close to retirement, the contract which binds the producers to Lactalis contains " a clause prohibiting damage to the image of the company or its products ". No one can afford to break with the company which, each year, in France, transforms more than five billion liters of milk (mainly cow's milk, but also sheep's milk) into products that flood the shelves of supermarkets: Camembert President , Roquefort Société, Lactel milk, La Laitière small pots, mozzarella Galbani, imitation feta Salakis, etc.
Mr. Garrec praises the commercial successes of Lactalis: “ They make added value and their products are sought after. They innovate, they move forward, they never stop developing. They bought several dairies again this year. The company's technicians who regularly visit his farm say the same thing. For them it is " keep an eye on the producers, on their way of working, to see if there is a problem. For example, if the barn is very dirty, we say to clean a little, because we have an image to maintain as a world leader. », explains Mr. Nicolas Huet, Lactalis technician. It also involves solving milk quality problems, most often by advising producers " to call on a dairy recorder to help them ", under penalty of seeing the world giant " stop collecting their milk ". The basic provision of this service is invoiced around 12,000 euros per year by livestock consulting companies.
The latter are not the only service providers that constantly revolve around breeders. " When we go to the farmers, we also have to sell products: a water trough for the cows to drink, products for udder hygiene, preservatives for silage…, explains Mr. Huet. What is a little tricky is that we buy the milk from the producer and we don't pay very well. So, afterwards, sell them something… Sometimes it doesn't go over well. I know it well, because my parents are dairy farmers ; sometimes it makes me feel uncomfortable. But, to be seen well by Lactalis, you have to sell… The advantage is that we have all the results from the producers, so we know where their weaknesses are. For sales, it's a valuable tool: we know the points they need to improve. »
Over the visits, the commercial relationship often gives rise to another, more intimate one: “ We are the people they see the most, and our exchanges sometimes fall into social or psychological registers. I happened to walk into a stable and see people crying. And if, like Mr. Garrec, farmers are aware of the fact that it is above all a question of their dump as much stuff as possible " in a " permanent parade of charlatans, each of whom comes with their new products, each more revolutionary than the other ", Lactalis manages to stand out thanks to a sizeable asset: not only the company " sell everything "where other agro-supply companies are more specialized, but it " sells even to the most indebted farmers, because it takes what is due directly from the milk pay ; she is therefore sure of being paid, unlike other supply merchants, who may refuse to sell ". As many farmers thus find themselves indebted to their agro-industrial group, " they can't go anywhere else ". " This is the basis of the system explains Mr. Patrick Danzé, a retired management teacher at an agricultural high school in the region.
A quarter of farmers below the poverty line
But breeders are mainly indebted to banks. These have indeed opened wide the floodgates of credit, supporting the investments that farmers are being pushed to make from all sides. Agricultural equipment dealers do not sell machines so much as the investment tax exemption plans touted by management center advisors. " They told me: “You have to invest so that your farm does not lose value and to pay less charges and less taxes” “, tells us a farmer. The investments made being accounted for as operating expenses, they reduce the result, and therefore the amount of the tax. The problem, explains Mr. Danzé, “ it's that your treasury plunges into the red, and that the agios accumulate. In the end, you end up working for the banks ". He pursues : " Here, in Brittany, the average rate of bank and supplier indebtedness is around 70 % of assets for dairy farms. At these rates, we are very vulnerable. At the first health, climate or economic crisis, everything changes. »
According to Mr. Ronan Mahé, also a breeder, this fragility also finds its principle in the fact that, “ for thirty years, the price of milk has not changed, and has even fallen ; during that time, everything increased: food, equipment, charges, contributions, upgrades, etc. ". More than a quarter of farmers thus live below the poverty line, with incomes often lower than the active solidarity income (RSA). They are the socio-professional category most affected by poverty. In 2017, nearly 20 % of them declared zero income, or even a deficit from their operation (2).
The boss of Mr. Mahé is called Emmanuel Besnier. He chairs the Lactalis group, created by his grandfather. In June 2020, in Saint-Faron, in one of the group's smallest dairies, where " molded with a ladle and according to historical recipes " Bries de Meaux and de Melun, he announced that Lactalis had reached 20 billion euros in turnover in 2019, " a year ahead of its objectives ". During this year " historical », the group experienced its strongest growth, with nine acquisitions in particular. Mr. Besnier's fortune followed the same progression, lifting him to ninth place in the Challenges ranking of the richest people in France (he has since fallen to eleventh place). At a press conference, he also announced that the price of milk would fall further, " to face the difficulties that are looming in the dairy sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic (3). " There is a race to the bottom between manufacturers, explains Mr. Le Bihan. They pull prices down to free up margins and stay competitive. Lactalis, Sodiaal [the first French dairy cooperative (4)] and the others all have the same message. »
Not so long ago, prices were regulated by the milk quota system, set up in 1984 as part of the common agricultural policy (CAP). By allocating a production quota to each farm (beyond which financial penalties applied), this European system guaranteed farmers relatively high prices thanks to the control of the volumes produced. It was a question of curbing the surpluses generated by a productivist policy whose initial goal was the food self-sufficiency of Europe after the Second World War. In 2015, citing the cumbersomeness and cost of this regulation of agricultural markets, Brussels decided to put an end to it, in the continuity of a logic of progressive disengagement of the public authorities.
Farmers were then faced with a new deal: markets that were no longer protected and unstable prices, subject to the goodwill of fewer and fewer dairies. Among the twenty world leaders in the sector, five are French (Lactalis, Danone, Savencia, Bel and Sodiaal), which makes France the most represented country in this ranking. While the dairy industry is the leading agri-food industry in France and the milk market there reaches 29 billion euros per year, these large groups dictate their law to the 80,000 French producers, since they provide most of the collecting their milk. The " bottom of the chain » has no choice but to accept the conditions of the collectors of his region, which an invisible hand seems to harmonize: « Me, I'm Sodiaal, and my neighbor Lactalis, but it's the same truck that picks us up, laughs Mr. Michel Corlay. They arrange among themselves. It makes me laugh ; it's not competition. On the prices too, they are the same, to the nearest penny. " But beware of anyone who dares to change dairy: " It's dangerous, because no one will take you in the face ! The groups agree in effect to save themselves a costly struggle to capture producers. It is thus that MM. Garrec and Mahé are “ at Lactalis like their fathers, and that MM. Corlay and Éric Jégo are “ at Sodiaal like theirs. " When you take over a farm, you take over its quotas and its dairy sums up Mr. Mahé.
Physical and mental wear
When the end of milk quotas was announced, farmers were told: It's lucky, global demand is up, the global market is at your feet ! “, relates Mr. Corlay, then in the front row. The excitement that ensued led many of them to follow the same roadmap: produce more and better equip themselves, with a view to seeing the price of milk soar. Like many, Mr. Mahé and his wife Sylvie have done important work on their farm. The end of the quota system thus led to an explosion in production, which, coupled with fluctuations in world demand, caused a fall in prices.
It was then that producer organizations (POs) appeared, bringing together breeders delivering to the same manufacturer. They take care of negotiating the contracts for them. Manager of one of the twenty POs negotiating with Lactalis, Mr. Le Bihan tells us: “ Negotiating with a multinational is not done like that. The balance of power is unbalanced. "Every two months, he leaves the family farm, where he raises 150 dairy cows with his two partners, to go and negotiate with the" great directors » from Lactalis, experienced in practice. " It's a job, negotiating: you have to feel the breaking points, the limits not to be exceeded, the dirty tricks. Some of us went for training in Paris. In ten years, we have learned a lot, and we have made progress on a few small additional points. But on the price of milk, nothing... »
The breeders' struggle, explains Mr. Le Bihan, is to " include production costs in the calculation of the price of milk. Because our expenses are constantly increasing. For a few years, we were able to compensate for this somewhat with volumes or automation, but that has its limits. With automation and technology, the volume of production per person has increased, but the days are only twenty-four hours ; the physical and mental wear and tear of chasing the price, there comes a time when it no longer holds. But, he continues, the dairy is afraid of running out of milk, and if many people stop for lack of profitability, then... ". To neutralize this threat, it was enough to induce the farms, whose number continues to decrease, to increase their production. Mr. Fabien Choiseau, director of milk supply at Lactalis, in charge of negotiations with producers, explains things to us in these terms: “ As there is a constant restructuring of farms with producers who stop, our goal is to support this restructuring and offer breeders the necessary volume transfers to guarantee the supply of Lactalis. We support them in their development projects. We are here for the producers. Mr. Garrec analyzes things differently: They never increase the price of milk, but, to please and so that people don't say anything, they give extra volumes. And then, each year, we have to produce a little more to earn the same thing, because the expenses increase. We always need more volumes, and they know it. »
" At some point you have to stop complaining »
As for the POs, Mr. Garrec notes that it is better to rely on them than on the unions to defend their interests: “ I'm not too militant, because otherwise we are frowned upon, and sometimes even penalized. » « When we negotiate, we do not demonstrate, summarizes Mr. Le Bihan. Since there are OPs, there have been a lot fewer demonstrations. " Lactalis appreciates, who does not hesitate to " create dissension "between the FOs with which he deals" giving once to one, once to another ".
And if the breeders have obtained nothing concerning the increase in the price of milk, perhaps it is also partly because the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA), which has the majority, finds nothing to repeat: " Me, I say that we must stop fantasizing about a milk price of 400 euros per thousand litres. We are in a global economy and there are market realities », Asserts Mr. Bruno Calle, executive of the FNSEA and manager of the Moulins de Kerollet.
" The other problem ", for Mr. Calle, it is that " the notion of business leader is not in everyone's DNA ; at some point, you have to take a little height, listen to the advice of the accountant or the banker, and stop complaining. When my accountant tells me that sometimes, when he submits the results of the year, the farmer falls asleep or says to him: “You have one hour, watch in hand, because afterwards I have work”, it's not okay ". It is also necessary, he develops, ask yourself the right questions, ask yourself: “How can I diversify my activity ?” Rather than suffer, act. In our business, you have to be a decision-maker. At valiant heart nothing impossible ! ".
In mid-September 2020, just as Mr. Besnier was savoring the success of Lactalis, “ almost perfect example of the successes of French family capitalism ", at the time of " his birthday, with his wife and three children, on vacation on the Ile de Ré (5) ", Mr. Garrec confided to us, seated at the table in his living room with bare walls, facing the window through which he sees his cows pass, that he dreamed of " start a family ". Before adding with a hint of anguish in his voice that, single at 43, he had better stop hanging around. But still it would be necessary that he can spend time to his family, which would mean " either take an employee or take a robot — like the Lely Astronaut whose demonstration he had been observing carefully a few days earlier. However, in both cases, this would imply to produce more, to offset the cost ". And therefore to continue his infernal race against time.
