French farmers angered by government culling of diseased cows

Farmers block access to the A64 motorway in southern France, on December 12, 2025. BASTIEN ARBERET/MAXPPP

As Parliament begins a decisive period of debates on France's 2026 budget, the government has found itself confronted by a wave of anger from some livestock farmers, who have been frustrated by the strategy of livestock culls imposed to contain contagious nodular dermatitis (CND), widely known as lumpy skin disease. The disease resurfaced in southern France, near the Pyrénées Mountains, on Tuesday, December 9, more than six months after the first outbreak was detected in an Alpine region in June. The calls for protests issued by certain agricultural unions have worried the government, bringing back memories of the farmers' protest movement at the start of 2024, which saw blockades set up across the country.

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Looking back at one month of farmers' anger in France