In the following video Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Front National in France, discusses the most recent in a wave of suicides among farmers and agricultural workers.

This video makes it clear that Ms. Le Pen, like other French politicians, is a syndicalist rather than a proponent of free markets. She doesn’t want the government to stop interfering with agriculture; she wants it to practice the correct kind of interference — policies that benefit farmers as well as consumers. She is, in effect, demanding that the state resume its traditional duties vis-à-vis the farmers and the peasants.

It’s a reminder that there is no free market in French agriculture, and probably never has been. Liberté does not mean the freedom to cultivate whatever you want and sell it to whomever you want at the highest price the market will bear. Farming is a government-managed enterprise, and Marine Le Pen is calling for it to be managed properly, for the benefit of those French citizens who toil diligently to produce food.

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Ava Lon has also translated a series of related articles. First, from the Europe 1 radio network:

Côtes-d’Armor: a farmer found hanged in her milking parlor February 24, 2017 [banner in the picture: We are feeding you, but we ourselves are starving.] As the Salon de l’Agriculture opens in Paris on Saturday, a milk producer, the mother of two children, killed herself on Friday in the Côtes-d’Armor. A milk producer from Côtes-d’Armor, who was weathering the milk crisis very badly, was found hanged in her milking parlor, it was learned Friday at the gendarmerie, while in Paris the Agricultural Salon is opening. A mother of two “A 47-year-old woman, a mother of two children, who produced milk with her husband and a partner in a GAEC (Agricultural Grouping of Joint Exploitation) in Plumieux, Côtes-d’Armor, was found by the latter hanged from a beam Thursday at 7:00 am,” said the gendarmerie of Côtes-d’Armor. “In financial difficulties, she left a message saying she was sorry but could not stand the situation anymore,” said the duty officer. “According to her husband, she was tired of having to work a lot and just barely succeed in paying the bills,” he added. Income down 26.1% last year According to INSEE [National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies] figures published in December, the average income of a farm manager decreased by 26.1% in 2016 compared to 2015. The most affected sectors are the production of cereals and the production of milk, which suffered from full European competition after the abandonment of European milk quotas in 2015.

From Le Parisien:

Milk crisis: Breton farmer hangs herself in milking parlor A few hours after the opening in Paris of the Salon of Agriculture, a farmer committed suicide in her farm. A milk producer from Côtes-d’Armor, who was weathering the milk crisis very badly, was found hanged Thursday in her milking parlor Friday near the gendarmerie. Céline, “a 47-year-old mother of two children, who produced milk with her husband and a partner in a GAEC, in Plumieux (Côtes-d’Armor), was Found by the latter hanged to a beam Thursday at 07:00, “said the gendarmerie of Côtes-d’Armor. “In financial difficulties, she left a message saying she was sorry but could not stand the situation anymore,” said the duty officer. “According to her husband, she was tired of having to work a lot and just barely succeed in paying the bills,” he added. According to their neighbor, Sébastien, the choice of committing suicide in the milking parlor is no coincidence. “It’s the workplace. We are there twice a day for three or four hours, that’s where the milk arrives and… we say that it’s not paid,” confides this milk producer to France Bleu Armorique. Replacement of the victim already arrived According to INSEE [National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies] figures published in December, the average income of a farm manager decreased by 26.1% in 2016 compared to 2015. The most affected sectors are the production of cereals and the production of milk, which suffered from full European competition after the abandonment of European milk quotas in 2015. According to France Bleu Armorique, a replacement arrived on Thursday for Celine’s operation: the farm cannot afford to suspend production. Even with the death of its boss.

Finally, another one from the Europe 1 radio network, reporting on a farmers’ demonstration back in January:

“Death is in the meadow”: against a backdrop of suicides, farmers demonstrate in Agen January 23, 2017 [the banners in the picture: “death is in the meadow” and “no country without farmers”] [photo caption: A hundred farmers demonstrated Monday in Agen to alert the authorities on the difficulties encountered by their profession, which result in hundreds of suicides from their colleagues every year] 732 farmers committed suicide last year according to the Mutualité sociale agricole. An unbearable figure for the farmers who decided to meet Monday in Agen. We feed you, but we die”: a hundred farmers demonstrated Monday in Agen to alert the public authorities to the difficulties encountered by their profession, which according to them translate into hundreds of suicides of their colleagues every year, as reported by an AFP correspondent. “Out of strength” “Death is in the meadow”, “Out of strength”, one could read on banners attached to a dozen tractors. After marching through the streets of the city, demonstrators went to the prefecture, the Social Mutualité agricole (MSA) and the headquarters of the socialist MP Lucette Lousteau, pouring manure every time to mark their dissatisfaction. They also hung tens of crucifixes symbolizing their suicidal colleagues at the prefecture gates, before a delegation was received by the prefect of Lot-et-Garonne, Patricia Willard. The demonstration was organized spontaneously by several farmers from the canton of Puymirol, in reaction to the recent suicide of one of their own. “This suicide was an electric shock; we decided to act; it cannot go on. Many farmers think about suicide. The other day, a father came to see me in tears. He can no longer feed his family,” summed up one of the organizers, Jean-Baptiste Lodetti, 22 years old. 732 farmers’ suicides in 2016 All of the agricultural unions in the department responded to the call, but refrained from deploying banners or signs of belonging. “The peasant community is suffering, but doesn’t talk about this suffering… Last year, according to the MSA, 732 farmers committed suicide; the average income of a farmer is 638 euros. There are no prospects,” deplored Christian Crouzet, the spokesman for the Peasant Confederation. As for Michael, 32 years old, cereal grower and breeder, he “doesn’t see the light at end of the tunnel.” “My wife is also working outside. Ten years ago, I thought that suicide was an act of cowardice, but now I realize that some are in such difficulties that they see no other solution.”

Video transcript: