The confrontation between farmers and the government has reached an extreme in France, due to the decision to kill entire herds of cattle due to the risk of transmission of nodular dermatitis to the cows.
Hundreds of farmers and ranchers try to stop the police from raiding a farm. Security forces repel them with chemicals and flash grenades.
Farmers are furious over the government’s decision to cull an entire herd of at least 200 cows after a case of dermatitis nodular, a contagious cattle disease, was detected among them.
From farm to farm, veterinarians are under government orders to cull all animals if even one case is found. The breeders say that with this method, they are driven to bankruptcy.
Thousands of farmers have set up roadblocks with their tractors on motorways in southern France. They call on the government to vaccinate their animals instead of killing them.
In Bordeaux and Limoges, farmers dumped manure outside prefecture buildings. Animals suffering from nodular dermatitis have been identified on at least 80 farms. The government says the disease could kill 1.5 million cattle in France.
Farmers say they are not backing down and plan to take the protests to Brussels next week during the EU summit.
