Four years ago, at the General Assembly of the Champagne Winegrowers' Association, the Champagne region made a strong collective decision for its future, by setting itself the objective of achieving zero herbicides by 2025.
In 2018, the President of the Union des Maisons de Champagne, Jean-Marie Barillère, said: "There are only two possible outcomes, either we move forward or we are forced to move, with all the ecological risks the second option entails in terms of image and therefore economy for our industry and our businesses. I prefer to forge a path toward a virtuous Champagne, rather than keep dwelling in the past."
The president of the General Winegrowers' Union, Maxime Toubart, added: "Our objective is, within a few year's time, to be able to talk about a 100% sustainable Champagne, that takes its commitments seriously and can be held up as an example, and which can proudly proclaim: zero herbicides."
We, the Champagne Winegrowers, Champagne Houses, and Members of Cooperatives, signatories of this open letter, wish to protest against the U-turn of the Champagne interbranch association which is today abandoning the objective of banning herbicides in the specifications of the Champagne appellation.
Take action now
Inspired by our Champagne-producing predecessors who always took charge of their own destinies, we have banned the use of herbicides in our vineyards. We are staunchly convinced that the Champagne of tomorrow will be cleaner and greener if we take action now rather than waiting for the constantly postponed European ban on glyphosate to take effect on our Champagne soils.
We now have real alternatives to herbicides available. The technical services of the Champagne Committee and the Chambers of Agriculture have been advocating for them for fifteen years.
The increase in technical skills and the management of cover crops have been evaluated, as have the needs for training, labor and investment in agricultural equipment. We know first-hand just how difficult it is to change practices in areas that are difficult to access, such as steeply sloping or uneven land, which could benefit from a more appropriate regulatory framework.
These solutions are easier to put in place in an AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, a French label that identifies a product whose stages of production are carried out in a defined geographical area) with very high added value, such as ours. In a very favorable economic context, our appellation must stand out more than ever before. Currently, the only reason that herbicides are still used in Champagne is convenience, coupled with a lack of knowledge about the environmental and health impact of the molecules used.
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