IFour years ago, in 2018, during the general meeting of the Association viticole champenoise, Champagne was able to collectively take a strong decision for its future, by setting itself the goal of zero herbicides in 2025. In 2018, the president of the Union of Champagne Houses, Jean-Marie Barillère, expressed himself as follows: “There are only two possible outcomes, either we move forward or we wait to be forced to move forward with all the risks that entails in ecological terms, in terms of image and, therefore, in economic terms for our sector and our companies. I prefer to trace the route of a virtuous Champagne, rather than to live on the past. »
The president of the General Union of Champagne Winegrowers, Maxime Toubart, added: “The objective is to be able, in a few years, to speak of a 100% sustainable, committed and exemplary Champagne, and to be able to display zero weed killer. » We, winegrowers and winegrowers, cooperators, Champagne houses, signatories of this forum, wish to protest against the reversal of the Champagne interprofession which today abandons the objective of banning herbicides in the specifications of the champagne appellation.
In April 2022, Maxime Tombart, indeed reversed this decision, the ban on herbicides will not be included in the specifications of the AOC champagne. Like our Champagne predecessors who always knew how to take their destiny into their own hands, we have banned the use of herbicides on our wine estates.
Be more than ever exemplary
We are resolutely convinced that the Champagne of tomorrow will be cleaner, greener, through our concrete action rather than waiting for the constantly postponed European ban on glyphosate on our Champagne soils. Alternatives to herbicides exist. They have been presented for fifteen years by the technical services of the Champagne Committee and the chambers of agriculture.
The increase in technical skills and the management of weeds have been assessed, as well as the needs for training, manpower and investments in agricultural equipment have been quantified. We clearly discern the difficulty of changing practices in areas that are difficult to access, such as steeply sloping or sloping plots, which could benefit from a more appropriate regulatory framework.
These solutions are easier to implement in an AOC with very high added value like ours. In a very favorable economic context, our appellation must now, more than ever, be exemplary. Currently, the use of herbicides in Champagne remains motivated solely by the ease of use, associated with a lack of knowledge on the environmental and health impact of the molecules used.
You have 43.63% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.