The French government has announced a fresh round of emergency support measures after livestock farmers continued to protest against low meat and milk prices this week.

Following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government announced a fresh series of tax and charges deferrements for farmers, having already spent €23m on exceptional grants and tax breaks since the beginning of the year. "The government will engage with banks to restructure the medium- and long-term debts of livestock farmers facing difficulties," the French Department of Agrticulture said in a statement.

The state will also provide €500m in bank loan guarantees for meat processors, "especially to help them pay arrears to farmers".

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll assessed progress since last month's industry-wide agreement to raise farmgate prices for pigmeat and beef. While price rises were in line with commitments on pigmeat, he warned that the difficulty would now be to maintain progress after the summer barbecue season. "On beef, we had a system that should have led to a 20c/kg rise and we have only achieved half of that - 10c/kg," Le Foll said.

New support package for French livestock farmers

French livestock farmers protesting against low prices have obtained new government support measures and put pressure on processors and retailers to increase farmgate prices.