This is a family farm. Only five people work at it — three of them are family members and two are hired workers. They have 60 ha of arable land and 50 ha of meadows. Grow wheat, barley, corn for grain and silage, alfalfa.

Their milking herd size is 60 Holstein cows, raise replacement heifers and slaughter bull-calf at age of 4 months.

Now short chain of sale — from farm to consumer — is in trend, that’s why a part of milk is used for producing cheese and yoghurt. Dairy products, meat and meat products are sold in their family shop. Direct sale of products is very important for farmers. People who come to the farm can see all the processes and therefore understand the origin of all the products. Besides, the profitability of products sales with added value through its own store is much better compared to the realization of the raw milk to the processors.

Average milk yield per cow per year is 9.5−10 thousand kg. Cows are milked twice a day (milking parlour «herringbone” 2×6). Also cows are kept in the herd 6 lactations. The main reasons for culling are reproductive failure and mastitis.

Ration is formed at base of silage corn (2/3 of main feeds), grasses and hay. They add soybean meal and rapeseed meal, also grain mix depending on milk production, but no more than 6 kg per day.

At Earl du Piemont the base of the ration is the mix of corn silage and meadow grasses. That’s why they need a lot of energy, and for the balance, grass is the source of fiber. Every year they use several hybrids, mainly three. In France for 10 years there is a catalogue, which contains all the information about corn hybrids for grain and for silage. It helps the farmers choosing what to grow. The owners don’t use any additives while making silage.