Crops:
* 40 hectares of irrigated maize which
is used to feed the cattle.
* 75 hectares of crops:
- Wheat, sold to a coop
- Barley, used to feed cows
- Colza, sold to a co-op
* 50 hectares of grass for silage,
pasture and hay
* 10 hectares of set-aside
In 1993, farmers decided, to increase
their income, to turn their milk into
cheese. So they created a cheese “Le
petit Bonbichon”, a hard cheese with
pressed paste.
This cheese is sold in their shop on their
farm or in shops and supermarkets in the
town near the farm
Stage 1: cheese making
Milk is put in a tank to curdle
with lactic ferment for half a day. Then,
the curdle is cut in small parts.
Stage 2: moulding
To begin, the curdle is
emptied on a sieve and after
is transferred to a mould.
Stage 4: maturity
Then, cheeses are
soaked in salted water and they
are put on shelves to mature for
2 months.
Stage 3: pressing
For a day, cheeses
are pressed by a pneumatic
machine
The farm we visited farms
175 hectares with crops
and dairy cows whose milk is
processed into cheese and
sold on the farm and shops
near the farm. There are
three associates.
Some numbers:
* 4 litres per cheese
* 3, 45 € for a cheese bought at the
farm
* 2, 55 € for a cheese bought in a
supermarket
* Approximately 2 000 litres
processed per week
* Milk value 0, 85 € per litters
* 1 full time job and 1 part time job
to produce cheese
The farm owns a quota of 550 000 litres
of milk. 450 000 litres are sold to a co-op
and 100 000 litters are processed on the
farm.
To produce this milk, there are 60
Prim’Holstein which produce 8 500 litres
per cows
