News

At the end of last December, the administrators of the AGPM (General Association of Corn Producers) voted in favor of the re-election of Franck Laborde as president of the organization for a second one-year term. Aged 54, Franck Laborde is a farmer in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, installed in GAEC with his brother on a 100 ha irrigated farm growing seed corn, grain corn and sweet corn. Franck Laborde joined the AGPM board of directors in 2006, then the office, as general secretary in 2017, before being elected to the position of president in February 2023. At the same time, he is also a member of the office and chairman of the FNSEA risk management commission. He wishes to continue the trajectory taken during his first mandate and continue with commitment to defend the interests of French corn farmers and its sectors, promote the assets of the crop and strengthen corn production and its outlets across all territories. Among the priorities defended by the president of the AGPM for this new mandate: guaranteeing access to all the means of production necessary for corn cultivation, first and foremost access to water and innovations; maintain the competitiveness of farms and fight against distortions of competition and the inconsistency of French and European public policies which are making us walk on our heads, with a particular point of attention on the Mercosur file; place corn cultivation at the heart of solutions to the major challenges of regaining our French and European food and energy sovereignty as well as the fight against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity. Some changes should be noted in the composition of the office: Sébastien Méry (Loiret) was elected secretary general, replacing Jean-Marc Schwartz (Alsace) who takes the place of treasurer replacing Anne-Claire Vial (Drôme) who is retiring of its functions. Also note: the arrival of Gérald Bacconnier (Puy-de-Dôme) within the office made up of 16 producers. (In photo, from left to right: Franck Laborde, president – ​​Sébastien Méry, general secretary – Jean-Marc Schwartz, treasurer)