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French farming leaders are to meet with President Emmanuel Macron in Toulouse tomorrow November 12 to raise their concerns about the state of the sector in the country, with a large tractor convoy set to descend onto the city.. 

Delegates from the Jeunes Agriculteurs, FNSEA, and other local unions are scheduled to meet with Mr Macron at 13:30. They say protests may follow depending on the outcome.

A convoy of tractors is expected to descend on the city as a show of strength and to put pressure on the president.

A main convoy will head towards the offices of media outlet La Dépêche du Midi in the morning, where the president is scheduled to visit at around 11:00.

He is in Toulouse to inaugurate a new building in the city’s Centre de Commandement de l'Espace and to begin a series of meetings about the impact of social media.

Farmers will convene in one of six communes outside of the city (Montsaunes, Carbonne, Pinsaguel, Muret, Villefranche et Castelmaurou) early in the morning before heading into the city.

The convoys will merge into a single group on the city’s ring road before heading into the city in single file. They do not plan to block traffic lanes and unions say members have been warned not to cause any damage and that violence will not be tolerated.

However, their presence on major roads leading into the city during rush hour is likely to cause significant traffic jams.

A full itinerary from the farmers can be found below.

Further protests possible, Mercosur remains sticking point

Currently, no specific protest action is planned during the day although farmers are aware of the disruption driving their tractors into Toulouse is likely to cause. 

Whether strikes and protests will be called for following the meeting is not yet known. 

“Anything is possible,” said Jérôme Bayle, member of the A64 Ultras union that will also be represented at the meeting. 

“Depending on listening and dialogue, we will make decisions… the agricultural community is fed up with being betrayed and disappointed.” 

Farmers will be looking for reassurance on the Mercosur agreement, a controversial trade deal between the EU and South America that would make it easier to import foodstuffs such as honey from the continent into France. 

Farmers across the EU and in France fiercely oppose the deal, which they say would negatively impact the industry, however Mr Macron recently said he was “rather positive,” about the deal and its chances of coming into force. 

In turn, the FNSEA said the president had betrayed the sector, heightening tensions prior to Wednesday’s meeting.