An ideal geography

Land, water and forages = milk!

With remarkably diverse land, the right temperate climate for meadows and plentiful water reserves, France remains by nature a major dairy country even with its varied climate.
Milk is produced everywhere in France! Throughout history, every single region has developed its own strategy for dairy farming and processing. From local constraints have sprung traditions that are now jewels in France’s heritage crown.

France, the land of milk
The dairy industry presents “France, the land of milk”.

This film promotes the strengths of France’s dairy farms and its wide range of dairy products, through the story of two farms in Normandy and Franche-Comté.

Dairy France
Milk in nearly every region

While the West has become France’s leading dairy-producing area, other regions are not far behind. From Flanders to the Finistère, Ardennes to the Massif Central, Alsace to Bordeaux, the Vendée to the Lyon hills, Franche-Comté to the Eastern Pyrenees, Picardy to Languedoc or the Loire Valley to Alpes-Maritimes, each kilometre, or nearly, offers...

France: land for farmers
France still offers affordable land for farmers.

All in all, there’s plenty of room in France for extensive farming at prices that are still affordable. That’s why farmer Harald van Doremaele left his native Netherlands for Brittany. This French region offered him the means to achieve his farming ambitions, thanks in particular to Safer, a non-profit organization that guarantees affordable land for farmers. Read the...

Let’s stop talking and start churning!
Let’s stop talking and start churning!

Lush grass, sea all around, creamy milk, the need to preserve it…  This is how salted butter came about! These days, refrigeration dispenses with the need for this particular conservation process, but still no self-respecting foodie would dream of doing away with those crystals.

Photo credits: Irqua Normandie

A little piece of cheese?
"Un ch’ti bout de fromage" (a little piece of cheese) ?

In the North, especially in the Thierache area, milk is produced nearly all year round without a break. Here, a wide range of farmhouse cheeses were created and then developed in the 10th century by monks. For example, “craquegnon”, a cheese made in the region in the seventh century, was adopted by monks who renamed it after their village...

Mature cheese, made in the mountains
Mature cheese, made in the mountains

Necessity is the mother of invention... To preserve milk when snowed in at high altitudes, mature cheese is a great solution. This is how Comté, Beaufort and Abondance came into being many centuries ago. Their characteristic feature is a period of aging in cellars of the right humidity and temperature.

Goats in Poitou
Poitou, France’s largest goat-farming region

Poitou became a major goat-farming region after the Saracen invasion. Today, it is France’s largest, accounting for 34% of the national herd and numerous varieties of goat’s cheese, including the famous Chabichou of Poitou, Mothais with its distinctive leaf, or the matured log, the most famous type of goat’s cheese and a best seller...

The Pyrenees sheep
The Pyrenees sheep

A climate that alternates between sunshine and rain all year round is perfect for the lush grass and rich vegetation that is paradise to long-horned, black-headed and Manech sheep. This special land holds the secret to Ossau-Iraty cheese and its cousins from the Basque country and Bearn.

France, the land of milk
The dairy industry presents “France, the land of milk”.
Dairy France
Milk in nearly every region
France: land for farmers
France still offers affordable land for farmers.
Let’s stop talking and start churning!
Let’s stop talking and start churning!
A little piece of cheese?
"Un ch’ti bout de fromage" (a little piece of cheese) ?
Mature cheese, made in the mountains
Mature cheese, made in the mountains
Goats in Poitou
Poitou, France’s largest goat-farming region
The Pyrenees sheep
The Pyrenees sheep

Water: essential to the dairy industry

Without water: no grass or forage, cows or milk

To produce the right quantity and quality of milk, a cow must ingest 60-80 kg of grass, hay or silage every day. This feed is 85% farm-produced and is made possible by France’s vast water reserves (in the Bay of Somme, Poitevin Marsh, the Camargue, etc.), which alongside rivers, springs, canals and other water sources, ensure the sustainability of milk production in France.

… and no food safety

Water is also essential to the milk production chain. From the stable to the dairy, the European hygiene packet imposes strict cleaning and hygiene safety procedures that require considerable amounts of water: for milking pipes, refrigeration tanks, the systems for cooling milk between the udder and the tank, pasteurization, cleaning equipment and storage tanks. This is the price paid for quality.

Saving water: a key challenge for the industry

Efforts are being made to reduce water consumption, especially through wastewater recovery.

A rich dairy heritage

France is the only country in the world to boast 1,200 different types of cheeses, butters and creams, with approximately 60,000 dairy farms and 650 processing plants. Many of these products display a quality label (50 French Appellations d’Origine Contrôlées, including 46 European Protected Designations of Origin), doing justice to a booming French dairy industry (a €3.4 billion trade surplus in 2016).

 

The right geography

for milk production

 

  Dynamices
        stakeholders

 

 

      Unparalleled
         skills

 

    1,500 
         dairy products

 

   A world-
       renowened
       image

 

  3.6 Billion

        trade surplus

A well-established industry

Meadows and fields: strong link in a virtuous ecosystem

Meadows and fields are the basis for the French dairy industry. Since they can’t be relocated, this virtuous ecosystem, described above, has a bright future ahead.

Vertuous cycle