Saint-Gervais is fifty kilometers east of Quebec. Fields as far as the eye can see and in the soundtrack, the melody pleats.
Welcome to Caprijole Farm!
Jean-Philippe Jolin, owner of the largest goat farm in Quebec, says: his 1,500 animals produce almost a million liters of milk a year.
Jean-Philippe Joll’s breeding includes Alpine goats.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Its function is unusual. At home, contrary to the rule in dairy farming, his animals do not give birth every year.
He makes them do it once and then he leaves them without pregnancy for years. However, they continue to produce milk for many years.
How is that possible?
First, these are goats selected for their high level of production.
Then, like those who give birth every year, these goats do not dry out.
Usually, goats that are due to give birth each year experience a drying period of one to two months before a new production cycle. Long-lactating goats are milked every day of the year to keep production going.
I’m going to push any goats that are producing more than three liters a day into the long lactation group and they’ll stay there. I know there are some and they’ve been there for three years or more!
Goats and a healthy wallet
Grower Jean-Philippe Jolin is a second-generation farmer. Earlier, his family owned a dairy farm. He switched to goats in the early 2000s.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Alexis Kegan
Many reasons motivate breeders like Jean-Philippe to choose this model.
For him, the wallet is very important. He says he’s saved thousands of dollars since starting five years ago.
Why did he do it? First, the cost of replacing ewes lost during calving has worsened. He also saw his livestock costs drop significantly.
On a farm, as in the wild, the time of year when an animal is pregnant is important. Childbirth requires a lot of energy, a lot of hard work. All these important moments, with long lactation, we will remove them
The breeder explains.
This eliminates the risk of pregnancy problems and the onset of udder infection. There are a number of things that mean the animal doesn’t need to be seen by a vet because they are “ship”!
His long lactating goats also lighten his workload. The dozens of hours of work he devoted each year to all his goats, before, during and after pregnancy, were gone.
These goats also cost less to feed than other goats.
Their yield, i.e. the ratio between the number of liters of milk produced and the kg of feed they consume, is up to 20% better than his other herds during regular lactation.
So they have less to feed. We have seen cost reduction. I feed them a basic diet.
Save the adults, save the children
Another positive aspect that Jean-Philippe Jolin observes in this production method is the well-being of each of his animals and the entire herd.
First, he estimates that the productive lifespan of his goats, which are not born each year, is about a quarter longer than the rest of the herd. So his animals live together.
Another side effect of the choice not to impose the womb on its animals every year: Fewer babies go to the slaughterhouse.
In fact, unlike the children used to replace the herd, the male children are considered Industry by-products
, the breeder explains. They are only effective in stimulating the mother’s lactation, or nearly so.
Pascal Martin, Operations Support Manager for Quebec Goat Milk Producers (PLCQ) and a former breeder of a herd of 160 animals recognizes that managing children is almost a A necessary evil
A farm and dairy do not have a real integrated sector.
Some people fatten them up to make extra income, but that’s pretty random. There are people who buy babies in a week. Babies are fed milk and taken to auction when they are 30-35 kg.
she insists.
Periodically, we find buyers who say to us: “Call me when you have at least ten sold!”
The Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is currently funding a research project to better promote breastfeeding.
However, Jean-Philippe Jolin is happy that it will be less of a trip to the slaughterhouse while waiting for them to have a real field. We don’t do much with a boy in the industry. I don’t need it here, it’s not a meat that many Quebecers eat. Being less is not a bad thing.
Breastfeeding continues, just one more step
Jean-Philippe Jolin became interested in long lactation only by reading specialized European sites on this issue. Everyone is talking about it. I said to myself: “I must try!”
Jean-Yves Ruelloux raises dairy goats at Priziac in Morbihan, Brittany.
Photo: Etienne Kreisel
Across the Atlantic, pioneers of this method include Jean-Yves Rouleaux.
He previously bred regularly in Brittany. Twenty years ago, however, he changed his mind about what he called continuous lactation.
Opinion? Its goats give birth to only one kid and are milked for life.
Currently, his most experienced goat has had a baby 13 years ago. Since then, nothing… yet he can give her milk!
In fact, the incredible thing is that we are so conditioned to believe that we have to be born every year.
In India, if we tell them that we raise our animals every year, they think we are crazy. For me, it was trying to see a lot of babies born and put in the slaughterhouse. Once you know it’s possible [de faire autrement]I jumped at the chance
Adds Jean-Yves Ruelloux.
According to him, this different method of raising animals responds to the search for meaning among young people interested in agriculture.
A report by journalist Inès Léraud at France Cultural Radio Station (new window), made him known. Since then, many have contacted him to discuss his method. People who want to change their lives, who have completed higher education and want to raise goats, but are deterred by the story of the children in the slaughterhouse, and as a result, “Yes, that is possible!”
Pierre Lacasse, a researcher working at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, studied long lactation in cows, which is less common than in goats, but still exists.
According to him, these examples should continue to develop, but they have their limitations in a productivist setting.
If you need replacement animals, if you give birth to a goat only once and it is a male, you will one day run out of goats. Some will have to be bought from outside. Herd size will decrease. This is a limit!
Also, some doubt the quality of production of these goats that produce milk without giving birth every year.
Tests conducted by Jean-Philippe Jolin show the quality is there, but he remains vigilant. In theory, you should be a little more careful: the longer you breastfeed, the more nasty bacteria can settle in the udder. Here, I don’t see that effect. The quality of milk is: good, otherwise excellent.
The answer to the agricultural crisis?
In the spring, Quebec farmers took to the streets to demand less paperwork from the government and more respect for their work.
François Legault recognized that facing agriculture Crisis
.
Could prolonged breastfeeding be a solution?
The work is hard: we don’t count our hours. That’s what keeps us going, so any daily progress is good
Jean-Philippe Jolin says. But now there is light within the goat. There is creativity: we inspire each other, we innovate. As it is a prominent place, go!
Five years ago, the goat dairy industry was decimated. Dozens of breeders have been thrown to pieces.
Since the goat’s milk supply is not protected by management, its price depends on its entry into Quebec from other provinces or foreign countries. However, Quebec producers had to compete with low-cost milk sold from Ontario: historical buyers turned away from them.
This dark side has turned and the sector is rebuilding little by little, Jean-Philippe Jolin assures.
Our milk has been bought at a good price for the past year. There are half as many producers as there were five years ago, and we find ourselves at a time when there is not enough milk. We have now negotiated a good price. Demand is strong: local market must be filled!
Alexis Keken’s report on farmers who have chosen to breastfeed will be broadcast on the show All Terrain Sunday 10am to noon at ICI Premiere.
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