"I think it's a good solution": foreign seasonal workers are expected by farmers to make up for the shortage of labor

It's already very hot, no shade in the field, just a little wind. So the asparagus picking started at 7 am and ended in the middle of the morning. At Nourray near Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher, eight hectares of green asparagus are grown. "There are still 15 days to harvest," says Philippe Noyau, head of the farm. He confesses, he was not taken aback by the confinement: "This year I have anticipated things a bit, because the Turkish women who came before were afraid of the Covid and did not come."
 

The government launched Operation Arms for Your Plate at the start of containment to help farmers who were short of labor. In two months, 15,000 people responded. Insufficient, since the Minister for Agriculture announced the opening of the borders for the seasonal workers coming from the countries of the European Union, as could do it Germany. 100,000 foreign seasonal workers per month are expected.

"We had 35 candidates for 25 positions," says Philippe Noyau. Varied profiles, especially from restaurants like Geoffroy: "I am a cook normally, I had never done that before. So, it occupies us instead of staying at home. It is a profession that is difficult, especially for the back we are always picking up on the ground. " Romain also arrived by word of mouth. "I'm a warehouse worker, he explains, with the confinement my box closed so I found myself making asparagus."

"It's pretty hard physically because you have to pick it up from the ground. But otherwise I like it, at least we work outside." Roman, agricultural worker


Philippe Noyau said that he had not had a recruitment problem. Everyone who came to work stayed. But he is well aware of this, this call to goodwill solution cannot be sustainable. "There were not in our region too many vegetables or fruits which remained in the fields because of the lack of manpower, explains the market gardener. This is not the case for the south of France There must absolutely be workers who come to help us. Morocco is complicated, Spain and Portugal will be possible, and the countries of the East also from now on. I think that it's a good solution. "

But Philippe Noyau believes that France has a reflection to lead: "It is a social debate. We must be able to pay more for our employees who are in France, and that everyone wins, including the boss." And to pay farmers better, we always come back to the same point. The consumer must agree to pay a little more for his fruits and vegetables, he concludes.