On Wednesday, French president Francois Hollande pledged almost one billion euros, made up mostly of EU farming subsidies, to go towards 'reviving' the country's livestock sector.

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Speaking at the Sommet de l’Elevage, one of Europe's largest livestock shows which attracts around 80,000 visitors, M Hollande said the money would be awarded to livestock farmers at the expense of wealthier crop growers. Over past years, French farmers struggling against low returns have mounted increasingly desperate protests to garner attention from politicians and members of the public.

These protests have included poultry farmers in Brittany embarking upon egg-smashing demonstrations outside supermarkets and government offices to vent their frustration at overproduction and low prices, dairy farmers in Eure-et-Loir picketing supermarkets and spreading straw over carparks and, in May this year, pig farmers in Western France organising road blocks and confiscating meat not stamped with the official 'VPF' (viande porcine française – French pig meat) label.  

The French government had promised it would use the newly negotiated EU Common Agricultural Policy package to redress the balance between livestock farmers and grain growers, though the French position in CAP negotiations often appeared to jar with this promise.

Nevertheless, backed by the ministers for agriculture and foreign trade, M Hollande elaborated on his policy decision for the first time at the livestock event, held at Cournon, Puy-de-Dome. He complemented those gathered at the event for reinforcing his confidence in "the quality of our [French] produce, the skill of our farmers and their passion."

The President spoke of the interdependence between animal agriculture and cereal production, but added that livestock producers have been facing up to the harsh realities of "structural problems" for many years, whereas the profitability of cereal production has increased.  He continued, "When animal production declines, things become unbalanced... the whole rural way of life is threatened. We want to support activity and production, the development and maintenance of landscapes and the preservation of knowledge."

Hollande said the policy of supporting livestock farmers would also carry benefits for those growing field crops, as well as others in France's food industry and rural communities. He added that he would not stand by and allow France to lose one of its main advantages, a "high quality" livestock sector that "creates employment and protects the environment", but wherein producers currently face lower incomes than the rest of the farming profession, higher risks, volatile prices and heavy constraints.

New measures introduced under the new French agricultural policy include a subsidy on the first 52 hectares of each farm, which Hollande said would favour smaller livestock farms over larger crop-growing holdings. The French government will also use options under the new EU CAP arrangement to allocate more funding to livestock farmers, particularly uplands farmers, by linking payments to type of production, rather than area farmed.

Hollande promised this would amount to a redirection of almost 1 billion euros (£840m) towards France's struggling livestock farmers. Under the current subsidy system, cereal producers can receive up to twice the funding as sheep and beef farmers in uplands areas.  

Despite the promises made at the livestock summit this week, Hollande's popularity is still on the wane in France; he was heckled several times during his half-hour address and last week his approval ratings fell to a new low of 23 percent.

Unsurprisingly, the French president's move away from supporting larger, more intense farms has not been greeted warmly by cereal growers. French farm union FNSEA criticised the government for its support of 'inefficient' small farms and claimed they too are affected by market volatility.

Official figures show that the average size of French farms has increased significantly in recent years, whilst the number of farmers has dropped off; France lost 25 percent of its farmers between 2000 and 2012. Hollande hopes the new policy direction will redress the imbalances perpetuated by past regimes, which neglected most farming types save for cereal and dairy production, but are credited with allowing France to become the agricultural powerhouse it is today.