FRANCE’S farm sector is under pressure after the wettest summer since 1959 hurt the wheat crop and from Russian food import bans, that could threaten jobs in an already frail economy.

    Farmers in Europe’s agricultural powerhouse say further falls in farm income are looming after a drop of 20 percent on average in 2013, according to farm ministry estimates.

    The French economy already faces zero growth.

    “Whether in grains, milk or fruit and vegetables, we have prospects of reduced income that could prompt a cut in investment and jobs,” said Thierry Pouch, head of research at farming advisory body APCA.

    Some of these may not be filled again after the ban is lifted if Russia finds new food suppliers, he added.

    Russia imposed restrictions on food imports in early August in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. The country imported 1.2 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) of French agricultural products last year, official data showed.

    The overall impact could prove far higher than the loss of exports alone, farmers said, as the resulting oversupply lowers prices across Europe.

    Russia’s pork ban imposed earlier this year for veterinary reasons illustrates this. The direct loss was put at 150 million euros annually, but estimates now peg the overall cost at half a billion euros, Beulin said.

    Lower grain-based feed prices this year could help livestock farmers, but that needs to be set against a 17-percent drop in beef prices over the past year.

    The EU said the Russian ban could cost the bloc 5 billion euros. It had promised 125 million euros for fruit and vegetables exporters to deal with supply gluts, but halted the plan Wednesday due to “a disproportionate surge in claims,” mainly from Poland, the EU’s largest apple exporter.

    French dairy farmers are also concerned, even though the EU has agreed to pay storage costs for some products.

    Prices for butter and powdered milk have plunged by nearly 30 percent over the past month in France, even though the country is not a large exporter of dairy products to Russia, the head of producers group FNPL Thierry Roquefeuil said Wednesday.

    Farmers had hoped an emergency meeting of EU farm ministers last week in Brussels on the impact of Russia’s food ban would deliver additional help but were left disappointed.

    (SD-Agencies)