According to Le Parisien newspaper, the police resorted to using cannons of dry ice and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The demonstrators, mainly dairy and beef farmers, kicked off the action early on Wednesday. They tried to break through the gates of the prefecture, but riot police managed to push them back.
Farmers have been staging protest actions across France this summer, to draw attention to falling food prices that are being further undermined by imported cheap foreign foods.
Belgian farmers have also engaged in similar protests over low prices, blocking roads and burning tires.
On Tuesday, a European Commission spokesperson cited price volatility, overproduction, declining exports and the Russian embargo on EU-produced food, imposed in response to anti-Moscow economic sanctions, as factors in the crisis in the European Union's agricultural sector.
Similar rallies have been held in Belgium and the United Kingdom in recent weeks.
