French government plans to vaccinate one million cattle as farmers rally against mass culling and economic losses
PARIS: France has announced a major expansion of its cattle vaccination campaign against lumpy skin disease, pledging to immunize nearly one million animals in the coming weeks as farmer protests intensify over the government’s policy of large-scale herd culling.
Speaking on Saturday, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said the vaccination drive aims to curb the spread of the highly contagious viral disease while protecting farmers from further economic damage. The announcement comes as farmers blocked highways and dumped manure near public buildings, protesting what they describe as excessive and indiscriminate culling measures.
Authorities confirmed a new outbreak in the Haute-Garonne department, near the Spanish border, adding to concerns that the disease could spread further across livestock farms if not aggressively contained.
Lumpy skin disease, which affects cattle and buffalo, is spread by insects and causes skin nodules, fever, and reduced milk production. While the disease poses no risk to humans, it often triggers trade restrictions and significant financial losses for farmers, making rapid containment a priority for authorities.
“We will vaccinate nearly one million animals in the coming weeks and protect farmers,” Genevard said, adding that the state would fully compensate affected farmers for culled animals as well as for operational losses. In earlier remarks, she warned that unchecked spread could endanger at least 1.5 million cattle, threatening the broader livestock sector and export markets.
Despite these assurances, farmer anger has grown. On Saturday, demonstrators blocked multiple toll points on the A64 motorway in the Hautes-Pyrénées, while others disrupted administrative work in Tarbes by dumping manure near government offices involved in implementing the vaccination campaign.
The government, supported by the powerful FNSEA farming union, insists that total culling of infected herds, alongside vaccination and movement restrictions, is essential to prevent export bans that could devastate the cattle industry.
However, the Coordination Rurale (CR), a rival farmers’ union, strongly opposes blanket culling. Its leaders argue for targeted interventions and strict quarantine measures instead of killing entire herds that include healthy animals. “There is no justification for culling healthy cattle simply because they belong to a herd with a suspected case,” said Leon Thierry, CR co-president in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Genevard countered that mandatory vaccination alone is not always sufficient, noting that lumpy skin disease can be asymptomatic and difficult to detect, making full culling unavoidable in certain situations.
According to the French Agriculture Ministry, authorities have identified 110 outbreaks across nine departments and have culled around 3,000 animals so far. Since the first outbreak was reported on June 29, the government has paid nearly six million euros in compensation to farmers. As vaccination efforts scale up, tensions remain high between officials focused on disease control and farmers seeking less drastic solutions—highlighting the difficult balance between animal health, economic survival, and public trust in crisis management.
