The major activity in our mountains was once the production of cheese with SALERS cows. I have always had this passion and admiration for this activity that my great-grandmother Marie Severac practiced, hence the name of the cheese. To date, less than ten producers continue this tradition in France. If nothing is done considering the age of the farmers, in 5 years time this know-how will have disappeared. To encourage young people to start again and/or keep up this tradition of quality cheese-making is a priority for me. Therefore, it is essential to make better use of the milk from Salers cows while preserving the ancestral production techniques. This desire to preserve is my daily motivation, which pushed me to embark on this crazy adventure. We are at the beginning of this adventure, I designed and invented the moulds used to make the Severac. I named it after my great-grandmother who made cheese in the mountains in the 1940s. Depending on the season, our schedule varies. In the summer, when the animals are outside, they graze in the meadows. In the morning, milking starts at 6am and the cheese-making process continues until noon. Then we make hay and milk the cows again in the evening until we finish around 7pm. In winter, a lot of time is spent feeding hay to the animals, cleaning the buildings, calving, etc. There is no milk production from October to February, because for the good health of the animals they need time to rest and there is only little grass available. We must wean 9-month-old calves, so the mother's milk must be stopped. The rest of the time is devoted to the care of the cheeses and the maintenance of the farm. Our products are natural and the fruit of long and passionate work. They are intended for lovers of true and authentic products that by purchasing them support an environmentally friendly agriculture. Being in contact with consumers, informing them directly and allowing them to visualize our work is essential for our development. There are no better ambassadors of our products than these consumers who are passionate about authenticity. They are the ones who will contribute to the notoriety we need. Thanks to its shape, weight and presentation, the Salerac is perfectly adapted to transport. It has a shelf life of 4 months once out of the cellar, which allows us to offer them in France and abroad with no difficulties. The logistic aspect is a crucial point in the distribution of products nowadays. All the key points mentioned above are gathered in CrowdFarming's offer, which is why we knocked on their door!

The farm is located in the village of Labro in the municipality of Moussages. Located in the Cantal in the heart of the Parc des Volcans d'Auvergne on the slopes of the Puy Mary and the hills of the Mars valley. The name “Labro” means “at the edge of the wood”. The wood covers the entire slope between the meadows and the bottom of the Mars valley. The farm has been a family business for more than 50 years. In the beginning, it was a small farm of about twenty hectares. As time went by, Christophe, the father, enlarged the farm, which at the time was run as a suckling herd (i.e. the calves stay with their mother for 9 months, 24 hours a day in the pastures). Guillaume, the son, after studying in the dairy industry joined the family farm business in January 2010. He rented additional hectares and changed the herd management from suckling to milking (the cows are milked twice a day, the calves are in a separate field from their mother and see them at the time of milking). Today the farm covers 80 hectares in the mountains, and natural meadows (i.e. without ploughing or sowing), where a herd of 55 Salers cows is raised. Situated between 800m and 1,400 m high, these meadows on volcanic soil, are composed of 120 varieties of grasses, wild liquorice, gentian, arnica, blueberries, etc. No herbicides or pesticides are used, the rivers are wild, the woods and broom shrubs make up the environment. In mountain areas, most of the economic activity is based on the breeding of dairy or suckling herds. The main sources of income are the sale of dairy products or the sale of grazing animals. Hiking tourism is another source of income. __Farm (water)__: Only rainwater or water from snowmelt feeds the meadows, springs and streams. We take what nature gives us, so that we sometimes suffer from drought phenomena which forces us to stop milk production, due to a lack of sufficient grass at the end of August. __Farm (management)__: Guillaume practises reasoned agriculture without fertilizers. Only natural lime is added every 3-4 years to improve the PH level of soils which are rather acidic. Only manure is spread on the meadows in spring as fertilizer. The first growth of grass is grazed by the animals, then it grows back and will be wilted to feed the herd during the winter. Sometimes a third shoot is possible - we call this "regrowth"! Nature is preserved, natural enemies are present, and can sometimes be harmful, such as mole rats destroying the meadows and depriving us of fodder for the winter, which can force us to buy fodder. Everything is natural, biodiversity is a reality. Nature is raw and pure. Our energy needs only consist of fuel for the tractors, mainly in the summer months during haymaking, and electricity for the buildings and the milking machine. __Farm (employment)__: Two people work on the farm, Guillaume and his girlfriend. Christophe the father helps his son. Two people work in the maturing cellar. This is the second year that Salerac cheese is made on the farm. Maison Marie SEVERAC, creator of the SEVERAC, is the owner of the moulds, the presses and the manufacturing charter. We collect the production once a week and mature it in our cellars. The Saleracs are matured in underground cellars, on wooden planks and are rubbed and turned over manually every week for a minimum of 5 months. The people in charge of the maturing process are employed by Maison Marie SEVERAC. By transforming the milk into the Salerac, the farmer earns triple more than normal, hence there is a high attraction for this ancestral but constraining farm production. Two farmers have already joined us in this approach, others will follow. Thanks to this, we will contribute to the preservation of this unique cheese-making know-how which is in danger of disappearing. Unfortunately, our activity does not currently allow us to employ handicapped people or people with reduced mobility. __Farm (waste)__: Our method of operation does not produce waste. The only "by-product" of our production is "whey" which is given to a neighbor to feed the pigs which will be transformed into delicatessen or salted meats. This is how, since the dawn of time, our ancestors used to go to the mountains in the summer to make cheese, always with pigs so as not to throw away the whey. This is where the fame of the Auvergne charcuterie comes from. Before being put on sale, each product is analysed, visually selected and a sampling is made for each batch.