Can you tell us a bit about yourself: who are you, where do you come from, what do you do?

I am Julien Bourgeois, I’m an organic farmer, I’m married, and I have two children.

I was born in the Yonne department in 1980, and since 2006 I have been running a mixed cropping and livestock farm here, in a small natural region, the Puisaye, between the rivers Loire and Yonne.

I run a 170-ha entirely organic farm, half of which is natural temporary meadowland grazed by my herd of 50 Charolaise cattle, and the rest farmed to produce cereals and various other crops, stored at the farm then sorted and sold via COCEBI, an organic cereal cooperative founded in 1983 where I have been a director since 2008.

I was nominated to represent COCEBI on the Forébio board in 2019, where I have just been appointed chairman, succeeding Mathieu Lancry (Norabio).

Apart from a bit of direct selling to consumers, my livestock is also sold through the UNEBIO channel, which is also a member of Forébio.

I am also involved in the organic network through many years of participating in my departmental organic farmers society (GABY – groupement d’agriculteurs bio de l’Yonne) and in the regional Organic group in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

The future is starting to look a little brighter for the organic sector. What does the situation look from your perspective?

The situation on the consumer side looks like it’s levelling off, and even maybe picking up, primarily in fruit and vegetables. These positive signals are welcome, but we need to remain cautious: while sales are up, it’s measurable in value terms, but it hasn’t translated enough into volume terms.

Our sectors have been severely impacted by the brutal drop in consumption, while operators had heavily invested to cater to the sharp rise in demand over the previous years. Unfortunately, this has led to a drop in production (business closures, conversions away from organic, etc) which, combined with a mediocre harvest, offers a rather gloomy outlook. The market may find itself under pressure with shortages of some productions in 2025. It is going to take more time to get back to normality and recover market equilibrium.

On a personal note, I’m still optimistic about the development of organic agriculture. Even if the agricultural backdrop is challenging and more intensive farming techniques are appearing to regain ground, organic is the only alternative for healthy food and a protected planet. We work every day with this aim in mind. So, while we may not control the pace, we must still stay on course!

What are Forébio’s projects to support the sector?

Forébio maintains contacts between the various contact in the sector so as to provide all the help it can to groups as they develop their structures.

Although the federation doesn’t yet have the resources to provide a portfolio of services, it is constantly monitoring the situation to find out what measures are available that can help us emerge from this crisis and give structure to new sustainable supply chains. Its expertise and broad view of the market are an asset. Passing on information, helping people in procedures like the deployment of Operational Programmes, a new European programme now available to new farming specialities (dairy, cereals, etc.). It also continues its advocacy activities towards politicians, public authorities and figures in the downstream segment and food retail. More than ever before, we need to raise the profile of organic, communicate around our shared vision. This is why the federation has joined the Maison de la Bio.

What are you expecting from the next edition of Natexpo in 2025?

Healthy visitor numbers, a higher attendance, I hope, which will enable us to meet new people and seize new opportunities. Even if we are coming out of quite a gloomy period, shops have to develop, just like new project owners. Farmers must continue to group together, create cooperative programmes, pool their resources to get fair value for their output. This kind of event offers everyone the chance to get what they need, in a convivial atmosphere. Have a great 2025 show!