Arnaud Rousseau has headed the FNSEA since April 2023. A farmer, he is also the director of an agroindustrial multinational.
Received by Gabriel Attal Monday January 22, Arnaud Rousseau demanded “concrete decisions” to respond to the anger of farmers. The head of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) will be one of the essential contacts for the executive in the management of the current movement. However, his arrival at the head of the Federation less than a year ago was not unanimous.
Arnaud Rousseau succeeded Christiane Lambert as president of the FNSEA on April 13, 2023. His profile is not the most classic for a farmer: a graduate of the European Business School in Paris, he initially worked in brokerage of agricultural raw materials, that is to say their sale on the financial markets. Since 2002, he has been a farmer in Seine-et-Marne, on a farm of no less than 700 hectares, devoted mainly to oilseed cereals, as well as wheat, beets, corn, and barley.
A big boss in the food industry
But the fifty-year-old has a double hat. In parallel with his activity as a farmer, he holds positions within several companies, starting with the management of the agro-industrial multinational Avril. He is also general director of the methanization company Biogaz du Multien and director of the company Saipol, specializing in the processing of oilseeds.
The man who has also been mayor of the town of Trocy-en-Multien (Seine-et-Marne) since 2014 took up his new position at the head of the FNSEA, committing to French “food sovereignty” and against the “climate hysterization” which, according to him, pits farmers against environmental activists. He is known for his positions favorable to GMOs, megabasins and the use of pesticides.