The Substitute Farmer Program Changes Everything for French Producers

We’ve all seen images of a field full of farmers in combines working to bring in the crop of a neighbor dealing with a catastrophe. Volunteer programs like Farm Rescue come to the aid of farmers and ranchers dealing with a serious injury or illness, death, or natural disaster.

But what about things like a broken arm? Working with an injury makes an already dangerous occupation even more risky, and when a primary injury isn’t allowed to properly heal, additional injuries can lead to permanent damage.

What happens when a baby is born? Mothers and fathers with corporate jobs are often able to take several weeks off with pay. Parental leave isn’t an option for farmers, especially fathers. 

And vacation? Forget about it. That’s a luxury many farm families never get to enjoy, especially those with year-round demands like dairies. It’s no secret there is a mental health crisis among farmers and ranchers, and working seven days a week with no breaks only adds fuel to the fire.

Rest is a critical component of recovery for illness, injury, childbirth, and mental health, but taking time off for these or any other reasons is a completely foreign concept for farmers. They just keep working even when they’re hurt, ill, or burned out. Planting, harvest, and calving don’t wait.

In a recent webinar from the nonprofit AgriSafe Network, Florence Becot, a rural sociologist and head of the Agricultural Safety and Health Program at Pennsylvania State University, said, “Some of these challenges require time away from work to recover, but what does that look like on a farm when the work never stops? Some farmers work through health challenges but that can delay recovery or worsen the health condition and have broader impacts on the viability of the farm enterprise.”

Becot pointed to a study that showed 55% of farmers don’t have anyone to come in and do their work if needed. “It may be difficult to find someone to take on work on the farm,” she said. “It can be very complex operations and not everyone can just walk in and start doing the work.” 

A French Idea

Like farmers, teachers have to show up every day. A classroom full of kids can’t just take care of themselves for eight hours. But when a teacher is ill, has a baby, or opts to take time off, a substitute is brought in. The teacher leaves a lesson plan for the sub to follow and it’s pretty much business as usual for the students.

In France, that model also applies to farmers, thanks to the Fédération des Services de Remplacement (SR), or the French Substitute Farmer Program. For 50 years, the SR has allowed farmers to take time away from work for a variety of reasons — including vacation — by sending a qualified substitute (agent) to the farm to take over the work for a period of time. Missions may range from a few hours to several weeks depending on the need.

The SR is a non-governmental, membership-based network of 300 nonprofit organizations across France, and is managed at the local level. It consists of 67,000 farmer members (15% of  all French farmers), 15,000 substitute farmers, 400 administrative staff, and 3,000 volunteers. Last year, the SR facilitated 5 million substitute work hours on French farms. 

Julien Deroo is a project manager with SR. He said 35% of substitutes are requested when a farmer is experiencing burnout, 31% for vacation, and 24% for parental leave after the birth of a child. Other reasons include accidents, injuries, sickness, union mandates, training and professional development, or the completion of sustainable agricultural tasks. The program only provides substitutes for farm owners and managers and is not intended to replace hired labor. 

How SR Works

When a farmer has a need for a substitute, they fill out a request form with their local SR office. If they know someone who’s available and qualified for the work, they can request them. Otherwise, the SR arranges for an agent, writes a contract, and handles payment. The SR is the employer, rather than the farmer. 

Agnès Papone is an organic vegetable and egg producer in the southern French Alps, SR member, and voluntary board member. She said farmers enrolled in the program are required to provide documents the substitute can use. “Then when they get to the farm, they don’t have to fumble around and find things,” she said. “They know where things are, things are explained, and it’s kind of like having a standard operating procedure document. Some have checklists, whiteboards, and super detailed instructions.”

“It’s like having a lesson plan for substitute teachers,” Becot explained.

Safety is a big part of that documentation. “In France, each farm has to have a unique document about occupational health and safety,” Papone said. “In order to be a member of this service you have to have one of these documents.” It lists all the risks that might be encountered on the farm and the mitigating procedures to avoid them. It also describes where to find fire extinguishers, safety equipment, protective gear, first aid kits, and other needed tools.

“I think what’s interesting in our model is the governance. The way we run the whole substitution service is a bunch of farmers get together and decide how we’re going to run it and what we’re going to focus on,” Papone said. “We try to be very democratic about it and be responsive to peoples’ needs.”

Who are the Substitute Farmers?

Karim Cheurfa Molinier has been an advisor with SR for ten years. “We have a lot of different profiles. We have students or retired people, but for the most part it’s people who have studied agriculture and are working in the RS to acquire skills and network,” he said. “Some agents are also farmers but can take on additional tasks when needed.”

“While some have extensive experience on their own farms, serving as a substitute provides valuable hands-on experience to younger or less experienced farmers,” Deroo said. “The system also serves as a workforce development platform for the agricultural sector as many substitute agents gain practical experience in addition to their school training or farming experience.”

Boost for Mental Health

Like in the U.S. and around the world, suicide rates among farmers in France are significantly higher than the rest of the population. According to Santé Publique France, the French public health agency, a French farmer dies by suicide every other day.

“Having a replacement service that you can call on and just say, ‘Look, we’re having a disaster,’ is an enormous mental health benefit,” Papone said. “In our area, we have a specific training on mental health and suicide prevention. It’s the equivalent of mental health first aid. It’s kind of like CPR but for mental health. I’ve become trained and we’ve trained health professionals to be able to identify these issues, and we’ve trained a lot of agents in the replacement service to be able to help when they’re sent to a farm, to be able to identify if a farmer looks like they’re at risk.”

How Much Does It Cost?

Farmers pay an annual membership fee to be part of the SR program. Papone said the fee varies by location but is nominal. In her region, it’s €35 per year. 

She said the SR pays agents different rates for services depending on the reason for the request and the tasks required. Hourly rates are generally €20-25 per hour, with a full day between €140-180. For some highly skilled agents like those required by wineries or beekeepers, fees may be higher.

If a substitute is needed because of an injury or illness, the SR first seeks subsidies through medical or accidental insurance. France also offers private replacement service insurance, and public funding is available when a death or serious illness occurs. At least half of all French farmers are members of farmers unions, and Papone said in many cases, those groups will pay for substitutes out of member dues.

An income tax credit reimburses up to 80% of replacement service costs due to illness or maternity/paternity leave for a maximum of 17 days per year. Livestock producers qualify for an additional credit since 

For livestock farmers who must be on the farm seven days a week, France has an income tax credit to help pay for the service. “Some of it is refunded to you because you can’t take time off without calling on someone to help you,” Papone said.

If those resources aren’t enough, farmers are responsible for the balance. However, Papone said local boards make their own decisions about funding, and once other resources run out, they can opt to fund substitutes themselves. “We had a farmer who died and his widow and children couldn’t carry on and the Board decided to fund his replacement for over a year until someone could be hired to take on the farming,” she said.

Case Study in the Alps

In 2019, Papone’s husband suffered from severe work-related burnout and needed help. 

“He was incapable of work and we had 6,000 seedlings that were still waiting to be planted and we had 1,000 hens that produced eggs. There were just the two of us and we had kids and there was just no way of making it all work,” she said. “The replacement service stepped in and basically allowed us to save the farm. We were able to employ someone who had very extensive experience and a lot of autonomy in both fields of market gardening, who knew organic regulations, and who could be trained fairly quickly on how to deal with laying hens, because that’s not the most complicated part.”

Since there’s no limit on how many times the service can be used, Papone was able to call on the SR again when her husband fell off a ladder and broke his wrist two years ago.

Would it Work in the U.S.?

Andy Bater is a fourth-generation Pennsylvania farmer and Farm Bureau State Board member who works with AgriSafe to promote universal farmer access to healthcare. He joined the webinar to share perspective from an American farmer.

“We have a history as farmers of working no matter what health condition we find ourselves under,” he said. “I have this image in my head of my grandfather plowing a field with a little bottle of nitroglycerin pills in his pocket and popping them when he had heart palpitations so he could continue to farm.”

This scenario isn’t unique to Bater’s family. “I hear this situation all the time and it’s particularly tragic. It’s probably something we could fix if we had replacement help available,” he said.

Bater cited a 2006 Penn State report that outlined the challenges farmers face when seeking help like the SR provides. It found the majority of farmers would be happy to have someone step in and help when needed, but they expressed concerns about them not having experience with the machinery, livestock, or technology.

“This is something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” he said. “I think it’s really worthy of consideration in the United States.”