The goat is a fragile animal. Poor quality hay bales, and the entire lactation process risks being disrupted. Delphine Serreau knew this before setting up as a breeder in Néons-sur-Creuse (Indre), five years ago; she has just verified it the hard way. Its eighty animals of Alpine breed, with their buff coat, have hardly produced any milk for four months, due to deteriorated fodder.
The 43-year-old farmer is desperate. Its turnover has plummeted, the bank is threatening to initiate a loan forfeiture procedure, the shadow of judicial liquidation hangs over its operations. His ultimate fear: having to lead his flock to death. “A goat cannot be resold. We cannot introduce new ones into a herd. There is only the slaughterhouse”she laments.
Whose fault is it ? Good question. In September 2023, its usual supplier, based in Hautes-Alpes, delivered 30 tonnes of alfalfa. “She was magnificent, I danced with happinessshe says. Six days later, disaster struck. I went from joy to descent into hell. » The hay began to rot slowly, but surely, and became indigestible for his goats, to whom emergency fodder was finally offered. They which produced 250 liters on average per day will gradually dry up; the fifteen “best” animals in the herd now only give 9 liters daily. The number of cheeses matured on site – in AOP Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine and Pouligny-Saint-Pierre – has also fallen, from 120 to four units per day.
An online prize pool
Was the storm that broke out that morning when the truck was unloading responsible? Was the alfalfa already infested before delivery? Did the shed where it was stored have something to do with it? Complex investigation. The supplier, who did not respond to requests from the World, declines any fault, as he repeated to his client. The sudden interruption of lactation cost the latter 60,000 euros in lost earnings. His mother had to break the bank to replenish part of her cash flow. The creation of an online fundraiser, called “Save my goats”, allowed her to obtain a little respite from Crédit Agricole, to whom she no longer pays installments.
A sort of curse fell on this farm, bought with a partner in 2018. The latter ended up withdrawing from the project a year and a half later, due to differences of views and repeated setbacks. Delays in work, poor adjustment of milking machines, administrative complications… “Taking over a farm outside of a family setting, especially when you are a woman, requires having to prove yourself. You are not credible in the industry”, castigates this former education assistant from a high school in Poitiers. In addition to this heavy climate, the death of her sister, at the end of 2022, slowed down Dephine’s enthusiasm for work (sixteen hours a day in normal times), before successive breakdowns in her cheese factory, and the costly repairs which will with, begins its decline.
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