"Hundreds of farmers protested outside the Aube Prefecture in Troyes on Wednesday, condemning the government-backed mass culling of livestock and the EU–Mercosur trade deal. Footage shows protesters blocking streets with tractors before gathering outside the prefecture with banners reading: 'Let's keep raising animals, not slaughtering them' and 'What future for us'. They also poured fake blood on the ground to denounce Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard and the President of the majority union (FNSEA), Arnaud Rousseau. They also criticised the government's vaccination strategy to control outbreaks of contagious nodular dermatosis (Lumpy Skin Disease, or 'cow COVID'), calling the mass culling of cattle "systematic slaughter." "DNC among breeders is like having a bedbug infestation in your home and being told, 'As soon as there is a case of bedbugs in a house, we burn it down.' That's it," explained Maxime Thorey, spokesperson of the Confederation Paysanne. "If you leave your herd in its natural state, you risk a 10 per cent mortality rate; if you listen to the government, it's 100 per cent," noted Arnaud, representative of the Coordination Rural union from Aube. The government policies, according to protesters, were deemed 'no longer understandable' and have 'no common sense', pushing farmers' lives to the edge. "My herd is healthy, and I'm not going to invite trouble by letting the wolf into the sheepfold [...] Tomorrow you vaccinate, three days later you have an animal that reacts, and they slaughter your 300 animals. It's not possible," one breeder said. As of December 14, France had recorded 113 outbreaks of 'cow COVID' cases this year, leading to the culling of around 3,300 cattle - about 0.02 per cent of the national herd, the Agriculture Ministry said. Farmers also amplified the nationwide opposition to a trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which had seen the French government requesting the EU to delay the signing of the deal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to travel to Brazil later this week to advance negotiations, though the deal still requires approval from EU member states. Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said it is 'now or never' for the deal to be signed, warning that he will not discuss future agreements with the EU if the deal is not finalised on Saturday as scheduled."