Thanks to the surplus accounting method, we measure d the productivity gains and the combined effects o f output and input price variation on Charolais beef cattle farmers’ i ncome between 1980 and 2014. During this period, th e total factor productivity has grown slightly at an average annua l rate of 0.16% mainly due to a huge increase in la bour productivity, while the productivity of all other factors decreased. We observed a decrease in the farmers’ income, a slig ht drop in intermediate consumption prices, land rent and financial costs, and a high increase in public aids. Over the 35 yea rs, with a share of nearly 60% of the global surplus, the downstream of the be ef sector appears as the main beneficiary of these productivity gains through a decrease in agricultural product prices. The state was the main funder of this drop in price s and farmers were the losers in the surplus distribution via a significan t decrease of their income.