The Order of Agricultural Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite agricole) is an

order of merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

bestowed by the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

within the French

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

History

The order was established on 7 July 1883, based on the proposition of the then

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

Jules Méline Félix Jules Méline (; 20 May 183821 December 1925) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France from 1896 to 1898. Biography Méline was born at Remiremont. Having taken up law as his profession, he was chosen a deputy in 1872, and in 1 ...

, in an effort to adequately reward services to agriculture in view of the maximum number of the Legion of Honour that could be awarded yearly. His reasoning was that more than eighteen million Frenchmen lived directly from this industry, which had a direct and powerful impact on the entire national economy (farmers, agronomists, professors, researchers, etc.). Labour was intensive and never ending, devotion was commonplace but the rewards were rare. The original 1883 decree created a single-grade order; only "Knights" (french: link=no, "chevaliers") were thus decorated. The decree of 18 June 1887 added the grade of "Officer" (french: link=no, "Officier"). A third grade, that of "Commander" (french: link=no, "Commandeur"), was created by a decree of 3 August 1900. The present form and statute of the Order of Agricultural Merit were outlined in decree 59-729 of 15 June 1959. The Order comprises approximately 340,000 recipients to date, of which approximately 23,000 are alive at any given time, including all living former ministers of agriculture. Officers number approximately 60,000 to date with approximately 5,000 living, and approximately 4800 were made commanders to date, with approximately 400 living at any given time.

Award statute

The Order of Agricultural Merit rewards people who rendered exceptional services to agriculture, whether in public duties or in the very practice of agriculture. It also rewards people who distinguished themselves in scientific research or in related publications. There are two annual investiture ceremonies, the first on 1 January and the second on the 14th of July. The annual contingent has been limited to 60 commanders, 600 officers and 2,400 knights. Award prerequisites are as follows: *Knight: be at least thirty years of age with fifteen years of service/work; *Officer: at least five years as a Member of the order; *Commander: at least five years as an Officer of the order. Conditions of age and of seniority may be lowered for candidates who have outstanding qualifications. A 5% contingency is allowed for people gaining direct entry into the order as officers or commanders for exceptional reasons. Foreigners receiving the order are not subject to the seniority clause. Members of the Order of the Legion of Honour may be admitted to the Order of Agricultural Merit at the same rank they hold in the first. An award certificate always accompanies the order.

Insignia

The Order of Agricultural Merit is in the form of a 40mm (35mm for pre November 1999) wide star, 60mm for the commander's insignia, with six white enamelled arms, the arms resting on a gilt wreath of wheat on the right and of corn on the left. On the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

at its center, a gilt medallion bearing the effigy of the republic in the form of the relief right profile of a woman's head, the medallion is surrounded by a narrow blue enamelled band bearing the golden semi circular inscription "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE" (''"FRENCH REPUBLIC"''). On the reverse, the gilt medallion bears the relief inscription on three lines "MÉRITE" "AGRICOLE" "1883" (''"AGRICULTURAL MERIT 1883"''), it is surrounded by a plain blue enamelled band. The officers' and commanders' badges also bear a gilt wreath, half vine and half olive branch, between the insignia and the ribbon suspension ring. The knight's insignia is made of silver, the officer's is made of silver-gilt, the commander's is made of silver-gilt or gold. The order hangs from a 37mm wide silk moiré green ribbon with 5mm amaranth vertical stripes located 1mm from the edges. The commander's insignia is worn on a

cravat Cravat, cravate or cravats may refer to: * Cravat (early), forerunner neckband of the modern necktie * Cravat, British name for what in American English is called an ascot tie * Cravat bandage, a triangular bandage * Cravat (horse) (1935–1954), a ...

around the neck.

Notable recipients

Commanders

* Queen Anne, Queen Consort of Romania *

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Agr ...

* Princess Caroline, Princess of Hanover *

King Charles III of the United Kingdom Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

* Jean Dupuy *

Jules Gravereaux Jules Léopold Gravereaux (; 1 May 1844 in Vitry-sur-Seine – 23 March 1916 in Paris) was a French rosarian. He was a top executive at the department store Le Bon Marché and in 1892 purchased land at the village of L'Haÿ about 8 km south of ...

Jean-Paul Huchon Jean-Paul Huchon (; born 29 July 1946) is a French retired civil servant and politician who served as Mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1994 to 2001 and President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France from 1998 until 2015. Biography ...

Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...

* Stéphane Le Foll * René Renou *

Henri Stehlé Henri Stehlé (November 30, 1909 – February 19, 1983) was a French agronomist, botanist and ecologist specialized in tropical agriculture. In 1949 he founded the Agronomic Research Center of INRA Antilles-Guyane in Guadeloupe (French Antille ...

Officers

*Christian Bind *Michel Durodie * Dominique Levy *

Ernest Vaux Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Vaux, (5 March 1865 – 21 November 1925) was a business man from County Durham and a distinguished officer in the Volunteer Force and Territorial Force during the Second Boer War and World War I. Background and early ...

Luu Meng Luu Meng ( km, លូ ម៉េង; born on 7 February 1974) is a Chinese Cambodian chef, culinary author and hospitality entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Almond Group, director of Thalias Group, president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation, presid ...

Pierre Galet Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introd ...

* John C. H. Lee * Will Studd

Knights

* Philippe Adnot *

Yann Arthus-Bertrand Yann Arthus-Bertrand (born 13 March 1946) is a French environmentalist, activist, journalist and photographer. He has also directed films about the impact of humans on the planet. He is especially well known for his book ''Earth from Above'' (19 ...

* Florian Bellanger *

Wina Born Wina Born-Meijer (Sliedrecht, 21 August 1920 – Amsterdam, 6 August 2001) was a Dutch journalist. She is often named as ''de moeder van de Nederlandse gastronomie'' (English: ''The mother of the Dutch gastronomy''). She has written about a hundr ...

* Laura Calder * Priyam Chatterjee * Jean-Pierre Chessé *

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

Vasily Dokuchaev Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Докуча́ев; 1 March 1846 – 8 November 1903) was a Russian geologist and geographer who is credited with laying the foundations of soil science. The ...

Alice Feiring Alice Feiring is an American journalist and author, for several years a wine and travel columnist for '' Time'' magazine, and known as an advocate for " natural wine". In addition to contributions to publications such as '' The New York Times'' ...

Patricia Gallagher Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher was a director at the Académie du Vin, a impetus, with Steven Spurrier, behind the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event and participated as one of its eleven judges. She was also on the Copia panel that oversaw ...

* Thomas Harvey Gill * Henry S. Graves *

Michel Guérard Michel Guérard (; born 27 March 1933) is a French chef, author, one of the founders of ''nouvelle cuisine'', and the inventor of ''cuisine minceur''. Early life and education Michel Guérard was born in 1933 in the Paris suburb of Vétheuil. At ...

Hermann Jaeger Hermann Jaeger (March 23, 1844 – c. May 17, 1895) was a Swiss-American viticulturist, honored as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for his part in saving the French wine industry from the phylloxera root louse pest. Early life Hermann Ja ...

*Rita Jammet *Paul Jules Jourcin *

Richard Juhlin Richard Juhlin (born 1962) is a Swedish writer on Champagne and is a freelance journalist Education Juhlin is a physical education teacher by training, and was educated at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm. He worked ...

*Eugène Leguen de Lacroix * Patrick Levaye *

Bernard Loiseau Bernard Daniel Jacques Loiseau (, 13 January 1951 – 24 February 2003) was a French chef at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu. He obtained his three stars in the Michelin Guide, and had a peak rating of 19.5/20 in the Gault Millau restaura ...

Kermit Lynch Kermit Lynch (born December 1941 Bakersfield, California) is an American wine importer and author based in Berkeley, California. He is the author of ''Adventures on the Wine Route,'' which won the Veuve Clicquot Wine Book of the Year award, as w ...

*Christian André Monchatre * Brian Morrissey *

Thomas Volney Munson Thomas Volney Munson (September 26, 1843 – January 21, 1913), often referred to simply as T.V. Munson, was a horticulturist and breeder of grapes in Texas. In 1888, Munson was the second American, after Thomas Edison, to be named a Chevalie ...

* Roland Passot *

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

Jacques Pépin Jacques Pépin (; born December 18, 1935) is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working ...

Paul Prudhomme Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef propriet ...

Thierry Rautureau Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed "The Chef In The Hat", is a Seattle, Washington celebrity chef and the chef/owner of several former restaurants, including Loulay and Luc. He is now "semi-retired", following his restaurants' difficulties with the COVID ...

* Jean Rochefort *

Wolfram Siebeck Wolfram Siebeck (19 September 1928 – 7 July 2016) was a German journalist, author and food critic. With his satirical style of writing he used to criticise fast food, TV dinners, subsidised agriculture and intensive animal farming. Biography ...

* Lyle F. Watts *Jean Wiener * Jon Winroth

Unknown rank

Jean Carmet Jean Carmet (25 April 1920 – 20 April 1994) was a French actor. Life and career Jean Carmet began working on stage and then in film in the early 1940s becoming a very popular comedic actor in his native country. He is best known internatio ...

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

Roger Peyrefitte Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

Charles Semblat Charles Henri Semblat, (1897–1972) was a French jockey and racehorse trainer. Semblat was leading French jockey for more than twenty years before his riding career was ended by injury. He subsequently had an even more successful career as trai ...

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's '' Les ...

References

External links

Décret n°59-729 du 15 juin 1959 RELATIF A L'ORDRE DU MERITE AGRICOLE

* ttp://www.phaleristique.net Site and forum on military and civil French orders and medals *
Museum of the Legion of Honour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of Agricultural Merit Agriculture in France Awards established in 1883 Civil awards and decorations of France 1883 establishments in France Long service medals