France is a major livestock country.
Women and men work the land throughout.
Here on the farm with Julie and Jean Marc,
producing milk is our profession.
We cultivate about 200 hectares of pasture,
with 120 milking cows.
All of this production is built on a terroir,
a countryside environment sculpted through the ages.
My father was a farmer,
my grandfather too,
and here in the Redon area,
we’re in a region where most of the farmers are livestock farmers.
Every morning, from dawn,
the day follows the same rhythm of events.
We begin with the milking.
The cows are brought to the milking shed.
Our cows are Prim'Holstein
one of three dairy races, along with the Montbeliarde and the Normande.
We inherited them;
my parents had the same races, the same colour,
and traditionally, these are the ones that have adapted,
little by little, to our environment.
We bring them to the milking shed
and each one produces about 30 litres of milk per day.
Our milking shed is modern;
we milk 17 cows at the same time.
Hygiene is essential.
We clean the teat,
so the udder is completely clean.
We remove the first few jets to ensure that the milk is of excellent quality.
Then we attach the machine to the udder.
In France, the price of milk depends on quality.
This is the reflection of the health of the herd.
It also has an important influence on the purchase value
and can make up 10% of our milk price.
The cows eat between 60kg and 80kg of fodder per day and per animal.
This varied and balanced diet
produces good quality milk.
We produce at least 95% of the fodder on our farm.
In spring, the cows go to the pasture and eat grass.
During the summer, they have grass,
which we complement as required with silage and cereals.
And in winter, when there’s no more grass in the fields,
they have maize silage, grass silage
and hay.
The cow spends a third of the time ruminating,
a third of the time resting
and about a third of the time eating.
We work with nature.
The environment is at the heart of our profession.
On our farm,
everything is done with a regard for environmental impact.
For example,
we store excrement to use as soil fertiliser.
This is our primary fertiliser.
We also recycle water
and we produce energy.
There are solar panels on our barns
to produce electricity.
Nature is well designed.
Plants provide food for cows,
then the cows give us milk and fertilise the soil.
This is the cycle of life.
Livestock farmers are in a sense the gardeners of the countryside.
We shape the land around us.
The fields are surrounded by hedges,
embankments and ditches
that contribute to the diversity.
Livestock farming is a profession that requires several skills.
The office is an important place.
It’s in the office that we do our accounting,
register births
and manage the animals’ health files,
veterinary check-ups and all the analyses.
Like 90% of all farms,
we follow the charter of good practices in livestock farming.
We are committed to ensure environmental compliance,
traceability and animal wellbeing.
The cows are fitted with electronic tags
so they can be identified automatically.
They also have pedometers strapped to their legs,
which measure the animals’ activity
and helps identify changes in behaviour.
The cows spend most of their time outside.
During winter, when it’s cold, they stay in the barn.
Also in summer,
if it’s too hot they stay inside
in the shade.
We are attentive to the animals’ comfort.
This is why the building is adapted to the climate of the region.
Here in Brittany, as the climate is mild and temperate,
the building faces east
and captures the morning sun,
so conditions for the animals are as good as possible
in winter as well as in summer.
The barn has been designed with the cows’ comfort in mind.
Their well-being is our priority.
There are cubicles
where each cow has its place to lie down.
We add straw every day.
We clean the barn 2 or 3 times a day
so they are as comfortable as possible.
There are also brushes for massaging the cows.
The barn is well ventilated.
The cows can move around freely.
They can go into the field when they wish
and return to the shelter of the barn
according to weather conditions.
The birth of a calf stimulates the milk production in the cow.
That’s how nature works!
During the first week,
the calf is fed with the mother’s colostrum
that we feed it from a bottle.
This colostrum is very rich in antibodies
and helps protect the calf.
We feed it with milk for about two or three months.
All the cows on our farm were born here,
as were their mothers and grandmothers.
This is what we call continuity in livestock farming.
The milk drawn is continually cooled.
It must be brought from 37°, the temperature of the udder,
down to 3° as quickly as possible
to preserve all of its qualities.
Milk is collected every day.
The dairy man comes to the farm.
We know him well.
We’ve known him for about ten years.
It’s always the same person.
We have a privileged relationship with him.
He takes the milk from the farm to the dairy
where it is transformed into cheese,
butter and other dairy products.
A well-fed cow
in a quality environment,
produces milk continuously.
It produces milk throughout the day,
and this is why
we have a second milking round at the end of the afternoon.
This second milking is organised
in the same way as in the morning.
The cows go in one after the other.
It’s a special time that we share together.
It’s a time that the livestock farmers share together
and one that they share with the animals.
We see each of the cow
one by one for a while.
The milking lasts 5 minutes on average for each cow.
It’s a way of checking that she is well
that her behaviour is normal
and that she’s fit and healthy.
The day comes to a close.
Tomorrow, the milk cycle will continue again,
to the delight of livestock farmers and consumers alike.
From their feed
to the comfort of the cows
including a good hygiene and a healthy environment,
nothing is left to chance.
It is this harmony
between the land,
the cows and the farmers
that gives French milk the quality
it is recognised for beyond its borders.