Farmers

We have met a very interesting farmer in the Valley. He was a recommendation from the local cheese merchant, so we went to visit him. No English at all, of course, so we stumble along in our developing French. People are very kind and helpful and every conversation turns into a French lesson. After our first meeting Yves pointed to the shed doors and said "see those big doors - they are always open for you." - So, we have some farming friends in the valley.

Yves and his wife Chantal and their little daughter Claire run about 100 cows for meat - Blonde Aquaitaines, and milk about 50 goats to make cheese - the goats are a French Alpine breed. He markets all his own produce. The meat is sold in 10 kg boxes which we understand he delivers himself around the valley and much of the cheese is sold into Spain, he also delivers the cheese. They also have 5 mares which are used to breed horses for meat - beautiful horses - big and wonderfully proportioned - Yves says they need the same conformation charasteristics as beef cattle !!!. Yves says horse meat is good for the health, but he says the main market for horse meat is now in Italy. They also have 5 dogs much to Ashurs delight - 2 Pyreneean Mountains dog pups and their mother, a Border Collie and a local stock working dog.

They live in a house next to the house where his parents live and where his grand parents lived, in a beautiful little village in the valley. The bottom floor of their house was recently flooded in a big storm, so unusual weather is a constant theme.

The goats spend their time in a shed or on pastures nearby and the cattle are in a shed during winter and in summer go to the mountain pastures. We have been invited to go on the Transhumance, which is when they shift all the livestock up to the summer pastures in the mountains. They move over 2,00 cattle, many more sheep and goats and lots of horses over 2 or 3 days. All the stock have bells, different sizes for each breed and especially big ones for the leaders, so a moving mob is an orchestra. At the moment all the stock are gathering on a big flat plateau in preparation for the move - the plateau is village land - no fences and all the stock are mingling. In the mountains they graze on village land or in the national parks. (There will be plenty of opportunities to look at and talk about land use agreements, multi level land use and common property management I am sure.)

WE spent an afternoon with them one day watching the cheese making process - all by hand with unpasteurized milk and then visited the plateau with the local horse reproduction technician, pregnancy testing and insemminating mares. All very interesting - no doubt there will be much more to report on Yves and Chantal and Claire.