Farmer designers, agriculture on the move

from 14 July 2021 to 8 May 2022

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Xavier and Severine Noulhianne

44°20'05"N,0°31'52"E
Planté Farm, Montpezat, Lot-et-Garonne

On the strength of some twenty years’ research and experimentation, Xavier Noulhianne has become an expert in meadows with a diverse flora and dynamic rotational grazing. In 2006 he came to the Planté farm, which extends over 14 ha, with his wife Séverine. There he set up a farming practice that is taking shape year after year, beyond the regulatory framework, fuelled by a critical eye on farming organisation and its labelling system. He has embarked on an alternative, freer and more pragmatic path, imbued with common sense, to be able to make a living from the fruit of his labours rather than subsidies. Climate change and the need to find solutions to adapt to the changes underway have led him to work hand in hand with Vladimir Goutiers, an agricultural engineer in fodder systems at INRA Toulouse research institute. Together, they are developing a meadow rich in several dozen varieties in Montpezat and do not tire of explaining the specific features and contribution of each of these plants.

With the milk from their sixty goats and forty ewes, Séverine and Xavier make cheeses whose flavours reflect the Planté environment. They sell them exclusively at the Chartrons, Caudéran and Pessac organic markets.

Xavier is the author of Le ménage des champs : chronique d'un éleveur au XXIe siècle, published by bout de la ville, 2016

“It’s a new profession that entails new ways of working. I went to find out information where it exists, from scientists. We quickly began to turn to meadows with a mix of varieties. But which varieties? That's when we met Vladimir from INRA, who is working on the mixes of grass varieties.” 

Vue
View of the exhibition - Resources Bordeaux cultural season / Bordeaux 2021 © Rodolphe Escher

From left to right:

Cock's-foot
Dactyllis glomerata

Smooth meadow-grass
Poa pratensis

Common sainfoin
Onobrychis viciifolia

Perennial ryegrass
Lolium perenne

Plantains
Plantago

White clover
Trifolium repens


For more information:
Planté Farm, Montpezat