in Aveyron, sheep breeders defend the AOP system for the production of Roquefort

In Aveyron, sheep breeders participate in the production of Roquefort cheese under a protected designation of origin. A production which must allow product quality for the consumer and fair remuneration for farmers.

Can the protected designation of origin (PDO) be part of the solutions for the agricultural world while French farmers continue to show their anger a few days before the opening of the show? The production of AOP products, rather high-end and in strictly delimited territories, is protected from international competition as in Aveyron, where sheep breeders produce milk for Roquefort cheese.

“The field on the left is regrown cereals which will be used to graze the sheep as soon as we put them out to pasture in a month and a halfpresents Laurent Reversat, breeder in Larzac. The field on the right is forage that should last five or six years and at the bottom, there are cereals to be harvested which will be used to feed the sheep. We aim for autonomy. And depending on the year, yes, we are generally autonomous.” No food is purchased from outside for his 200 sheep. A choice that is both economical and ecological for Laurent Reversat but it is also an obligation included in the specifications for those who want their raw, whole milk in Roquefort.

“A strength for all breeders to be able to count on this AOP”

In mid-February, Clément Puech took advantage of the warm weather to take his animals out. The young farmer does not regret having joined the family farm five years ago “We were already dairy sheepsays the breeder. I knew it was a production that worked. For me, it’s a production of the future, so I haven’t really asked myself the question: should I continue or should I stop because I like it too.”

Because he is paid a little more than one euro per liter for his milk. The result of a negotiation where it is the producers who have the best part: “A whole part of the milk that goes into making Roquefort, the manufacturer has no choice, he has to take it from us to process itexplains Jérôme Faramond, president of the association of sheep milk producers for Roquefort. This part of the negotiation is still much simpler and, in any case, healthier for us. It is a strength for all breeders to be able to count on this AOP for its milk price, it is obvious.”

If they consider themselves favored by the AOP, sheep milk producers are not rolling in gold. The industry estimates that each person working on the farm generates an income between one and a half and two times the minimum wage. Income threatened in recent years explains breeder Laurent Reversat: “Production costs have increased over the past two years and we cannot increase our price of milk accordingly, because the market does not accept it. High-end products, organic products, products with a quality label are deconsumed because there is a price problem.” Between 2022 and 2023, sales of sheep’s cheese fell in France by 4 to 14%, depending on the variety.