France is losing 1,300 winegrowers who, due to market difficulties and in exchange for a grant of €4,000 per hectare, have chosen to stop growing grapes. The report from Masaf (the French Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forests, equivalent to its Italian counterpart) on the uprooting initiative funded by national resources is somewhat bittersweet. It reflects both the regret that some have had to take a step back during challenging times and the necessity of a measure strongly advocated by local associations, particularly in the central and southern regions of the country. These measures aim to address the market crises linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine (among other factors). FranceAgriMer, the body that managed the state aid application process on behalf of the ministry between 15 October and 13 November, has revealed that for some French entrepreneurs, closing down was the only viable option.
Over 27,000 hectares will be uprooted
The final deadline for carrying out the definitive uprooting is set for 2 June 2025. For this specific emergency measure, the French government, in agreement with the European Commission, which gave its approval in early October, allocated a budget of €120 million. According to the data, €109.8 million was requested through 5,418 applications for aid. This means the available funds will cover all the needs of the businesses, and there will be no need to apply proportionality coefficients.
Overall, the French wine sector has decided to uproot 27,461 hectares of vineyards. Of these, 8,700 hectares will disappear permanently, while for the remaining portion, businesses have opted to continue winemaking, removing only part of their vineyards. The intention of completely ceasing production among a significant segment of French companies had already emerged in an online survey launched in May 2024 by the Ministry of Agriculture.
A six-year restriction for those choosing to uproot
In addition to the removal of the affected vineyard areas, the granting of the ministry’s aid, which, as mentioned, amounts to €4,000 per uprooted hectare, includes certain restrictions. These include a prohibition on obtaining replanting authorisations for the uprooted vineyard areas before June 2025 and a ban on obtaining authorisations for new vineyard plantings for the next six seasons.
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