At the Agricultural Show, the farming world wants to reap the fruits of political dialogue

Aurélien Pradié (LR), Tuesday, in the enclosure of the Ovalie cow, muse of the 2023 edition. Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas via Reuters

So much for the plaid suit and the polished shoes. Aurelien Pradie advances in the enclosure strewn with straw, and brushes with a caress the mahogany dress of Ovalie. This curly-haired Salers, muse cow of the 2023 edition of the Agricultural Show, responds with a disdainful nod that eclipses the former number two of the Republicans. Tuesday, the week is just beginning, but the mascot has already had enough. She doesn’t want to let herself be upstaged anymore. Clinging to the barrier in front of her, an elderly lady is impatient, moreover: “We want to see Ovalie!” A stone’s throw from the flagship stand, where elected and anonymous mingle, Hervé also barely deigns to raise his head. “Politicians come here to be seen. They take their little photos, then leave.gasp, impassive, this pig farmer.

During this ten-day annual marathon, which the President of the Republic traditionally inaugurates each year, party leaders, deputies or ministers take the…