Farmers head hundreds of tractors for Paris in protest

PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of tractors were heading towards Paris for a protest due to take place on Thursday where French farmers will call for more help with low prices and high costs in the European Union's largest agricultural producer. FNSEA, France's biggest farm union which called for the protest, expects the event to gather well over 1,000 tractors and over 3,000 farmers in the streets of the French capital. "The idea is to put pressure on Paris," Luc Smessaert, FNSEA's deputy chairman, told Reuters. "Never before has there been such a large number of tractors hitting the roads (in a protest)," he said, adding that about 500 were already heading for Paris. For many, the protest will be a rehearsal for a European-wide demonstration in Brussels on Monday when EU farm ministers meet to discuss answers to the livestock and dairy sectors' crisis. French livestock farmers have been complaining for months that a slump in prices due to foreign competition, lower demand linked partly to Russia's embargo on Western products and a squeeze in margins by retailers has put more than 10 percent of livestock farmers close to bankruptcy. They started blocking roads in mid-July, including the route to Mont Saint-Michel, one of France's most famous tourist sites, and dumping manure outside supermarkets in western France, which hosts a large part of the livestock industry. Protests later widened with farmers barring imports from German and Spanish producers. The actions prompted the European Commission to step in to call on France to ensure goods could flow freely through Europe. FNSEA said the aid package for livestock and dairy farmers announced in late July, including tax rebates, delayed payments and loan guarantees, was insufficient. "Farmers are looking for more than just announcements - concrete measures to restructure, provide prospects in the medium to long term and, for the most indebted people, short-term solutions so that they can pull through," Smessaert said. Other farmers such as grain growers, who have suffered from low prices in the 2014/2015 season, are due to join Thursday's protest, Smessaert said. FNSEA chairman Xavier Beulin said after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande last week that the government would announce new measures for farmers on Thursday. (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Andrew Callus/Ruth Pitchford)