Corn, originally from Mexico, conquered France in the 1970s and became indispensable for feeding livestock. But this plant, which requires a lot of water during the summer, is becoming less suitable as climate change will worsen droughts in France.
France has become the leading European exporter of corn, which occupies around 10% of its useful agricultural area. Mainly intended for animal feed: grain corn for poultry, sheep and pigs; fodder maize for livestock – has established itself in regions such as the Alsace plain or the Landes.
Cultivated since the 17th century in France, corn “was first limited to the southwest, the warmest and most humid region of France”, conditions that are favorable to it, Christian Huyghe, scientific director of agriculture at the National Research Institute for the Agriculture. , Food and Environment (Inrae).
Since the late 1960s, harvested areas have skyrocketed, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Today the cultivation of corn represents about 3 million hectares, of the 28 million hectares of agricultural land in the country.
Until the 1970s, cows ate grass in the summer and hay, straw or grass silage in the winter (to keep the grass moist), recalls the scientist, agronomist.
The livestock revolution
“And corn arrived, with suitable machines, forage harvesters (which) allow large volumes of stock to be made that are easily stored, done very quickly and in a single harvest” against several for pasture, he continues.
This “total revolution” has greatly simplified the breeder’s life.
However, corn is low in protein and soybean meal had to be imported to supplement the animals’ feed, explains Christian Huyghe.
But in times of summer drought, which will intensify with global warming, “an emblematic variety, maize, raises questions”, says Agnès Ducharne, a researcher at the CNRS.
This raises the question of “reducing the share of maize in French agriculture for crops more adapted to summer drought”, continues Agnès Ducharne, a specialist in the water cycle and the impacts of climate change.
The problem with growing corn is that it requires water at a time when the springs are not overflowing. In order for it to have a good yield, its irrigation is necessary, but “what production system allows it to be more resistant? And does corn have a place in that?” asks Christian Huyghe.
For him, “corn will be part of the panoply”, but “its participation will be rather reduced” in the future, which will force the animal feed market to be reorganized.
“To be resilient, a system must be diverse,” he insists. “An investment trajectory that leads to maximizing corn crops” ensuring its irrigation with large water reserves “would weaken the system”, she warns.
“Of course we will continue to produce corn”
But for FNSEA, the main agricultural federation, it is not about abandoning corn. “Of course we will continue to produce corn,” says its president Christiane Lambert in BFM Business.
Above all, “it is necessary to have forage production to maintain livestock,” he warns. “Do you prefer that we stop the corn and import the meat from South America? Or import pork from Spain where they irrigate? The irony is that today we import wheat straw from Spain where we irrigate (…) and we in France do not irrigate and import the straw. Is this really serious in terms of carbon footprint?
In more general terms, the production of meat, through intensive agriculture, has more environmental impacts than that of other food products, according to scientific studies. Therefore, NGOs advocate reducing meat consumption and favoring grass-fed cattle.
Source: BFM TV
