How farmers view their job in Pays de Caux, France

Abstract

Abstract In Pays de Caux, runoff and erosion frequently generate damages. Ploughing up grassland is one of the causes of their increase. To apprehend this issue, the authors studied the conceptions of a group of farmers, farming the same catchment, through a socio-anthropological approach. According to this analysis, two types of farms are identified: the ‘managers’ looking at the profitability per hectare, and the ‘livestock farmers’, for whom the global income of farming is more important. The latter are severely depreciated, by the others and by themselves, and are generally not taken over. Nevertheless, their grasslands are more steady than the ‘managers’ ones, and their preservation is important to combat erosion. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) does not suggest any measures supporting grassland of these ‘small livestock farmers’. Local subsidies could not only support them economically but could also contribute to decrease their depreciation. This may be a way to manage the risk of soil erosion. However, the results are established at the catchment level and further enquiries are needed to extend them. It is possible to build a network of places in Europe, with the aim of thinking propositions at the CAP level.