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XtraBlatt Issue 02-2017

  • Text
  • Krone
  • Machinery
  • Forage
  • Silage
  • Maize
  • Agricultural
  • Cows
  • Farmers
  • Menschen
  • Bale

MENSCHEN INTERNATIONAL

MENSCHEN INTERNATIONAL France IN FAMILY HANDS The Cassin family from Coron near Le Mans run a dairy farm with four family members and one employee. Together, they care for 130 milking cows plus followers. Further growth is the aim. 34

It’s almost all in the family on this farm with (from l.) the future sonin-law Jonathan Brossler Gérard, Laurence, Noémie and Arnaud Cassin. The Cassin family dairy farm lies in northwest France, more precisely in Coron some 80 km east of Nantes. On our arrival, a few cows stood in pens around the farmhouse, a bitch with three whelps lay at the door. With its light colour and low form, the house had a maritime look about it. Direct on the farm road are the barns for milk cows and calves. Alongside, some tractors stand with cultivation implements. That’s the first impression. This farm has been in family hands since 1968 with the two children Noémie and Arnaud taking over as managers in 2013. Around 170 ha are farmed. This includes 55 ha maize, 25 ha grass seed multiplication crops and 45 to 50 ha cereals, mainly barley. “The soil is actually not especially suitable for grain,” explains Arnaud Cassin. Maximum grain harvest is 7.5 t/ha. With forage maize the dry matter yield is around 10 to 15 t/ha. The quality fluctuates so much that the cereal grains are usually all used for feed. The rest of the farm area comprises pasture. In part, grass is sometimes sown as catch crop on the arable land. FORAGE HARVEST An agricultural contractor undertakes the maize and cereal harvests while mowing and carting home a portion of the forage is for the most part a family affair. With three tractors from New Holland and Deutz-Fahr, a Deutz-Fahr telescopic loader and a Krone round baler, the grass harvest can be left to the family. Around 900 bales of grass silage are usually made with an average 100 bales of hay and 900 of straw. The remaining machinery for all the work: e.g. further round balers, one with cutterhead, an eight-rotor turner from Krone, a Monosem drill, tipping trailer and slurry tanker from Jeantil have been bought by the family with the help of a purchasing syndicate (Cuma in French) over the dealership Service Agri. Four neighbouring farms are involved in this Cuma. Some of these machines are already over 10 years old. The Cuma also offers equipment for tube silage. On the other hand, biogas production plays no role in this region. “Our slurry is all spread on our fields. At a distance of 15 km, the nearest biogas plant is too far for us,” says Arnaud Cassin. Normally, silage grass is mowed twice. If the weather allows, a third cut is possible. “However, we prefer to graze the areas then. The quality of the grass is not good enough,” explains father Gérard Cassin. Feed legumes such as lucerne don’t play any role on the Cassin farm. “The soil here is too acid and too dry,” says the senior boss. Irrigation is too dear to consider, he adds. “We are completely dependent on rain. This year it was very dry, and we certainly notice that,” explains mother Laurence Cassin. Because of the mild temperatures the whole year, the family has no problems with frost, e.g. frozen water pipes. “Seldom do temperatures sink below -5°C,” she adds. 35