My Internship at the Ferme de Boisy: A Report Introduction

From 1-28 August 2016, I completed an internship the La Ferme de Boisy, a medium-size dairy and meat operation.

La Ferme de Boisy is located in Pouilly-les-Nonains, a small village about 10 km from Roanne in the Loire department of the Rhone-Alpes region, France. The region is marked by a temperate climate, with temperatures rarely reaching above 35 C in the summertime or below 0 C in the winter. In addition to the favorable climate, the geography is relatively flat, which facilitates a range of agricultural activities, from cereal production to animal husbandry. Like Ferme de Boisy, many of the farms in the region are focused on dairy production.

The primary business of the Ferme de Boisy is to transform the raw products of the farm animals into food products sold on-site and in local supermarkets. The farm raises 45 Holstein cows for milk production, 35 Genisse cattle for beef production, and 100 pigs. Additionally, the farm manages 100 hectares of cereal production for animal feed. The primary product of the farm is cheese, followed by meat cuts (beef and pork), and conserved products (sausage and pate, for example).

Of the average 1200 liters of milk collected each day, 95% is used the cheese production, and the other 5% is either bottled or made into other dairy products, like yogurt. On average, the farm slaughters two pigs per week for transformation to meat products at an on-site processing facility. Beef availability depends on the herd size and age at any given time, as beef cattle are kept until maximum age two. In general, the farm’s primary meat product is pork (during my one-month internship, there was only one Genisse cattle slaughtered).

Ferme de Boisy’s signature cheese is the Rigotte, a hard cheese that is characteristic of the region. Rigotte is fabricated in the same way as the farm’s second most popular cheese, fromage blanc, a soft farm cheese that is very popular in the summertime. The basic steps are the same for making all cheeses; the difference depends on how long the cheese has been aged and whether it is dried or humidified in this process. The process uniformity behind cheesemaking has allowed the farm to diversify its operation to include other cheese varieties, including apericone, brique, and tome.

Hervé Burnot, one of four proprieters of the agricultural group (GAEC Boisy), was my direct supervisor and host for the internship. Hervé structured a fantastic internship that allowed me to try out all the of aspects of farm production in the four weeks I stayed with him. I did everything from learning how to make cheese, to milking the cows, to doing the deliveries every week at local stores. Although the work was important, Hervé made language and culture learning a priority, as well. With Hervé and family, I got a true taste of French life and my first total immersion into the language. It was a wonderful month!Analyzing the function of a French organization

Study of the environment of the organizationGroupement agricole d’exploitation en commun (GAEC) Boisy originally began as a

family operation run by the grandmother of Hervé, continued by his mother, Suzanne, and passed along to Hervé and his two siblings (Franck, who is also a proprietor, and Christine). After passing to the third generation, Hervé and his siblings decided to create a common agricultural group (GAEC) with four proprietors. The operation grew significantly after Ferme de

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Boisy’s association, allowing the GAEC to expand and diversify its business to include meat production an an on-site farm store.

All of the farm’s activities happen within walking distance from each other, which allows the system to run smoothly and efficiently. The farm store is connected to the fromagerie, and the meat processing facility is just across the street. The proximity of the farm’s primary operations creates a high level of productive and personal efficiency for Hervé and the other proprietors (who are his neighbors): they can arrive to work easily (which is especially important for emergency situations like a difficult calf birth, for example), and they can also rest easily. I found that the spatial arrangement of the farm contributed greatly to a positive organization environment and work-life balance, which I discuss more in the proceeding sections.

Observation and analysis of organization functioning Given its origins as a fromagerie, cheese making still remains the central operation of

GAEC Boisy, and therefore it was important that I first learned the process of cheesemaking as my introduction to the farm. In week two, I performed the manual farm work with Hervé and helped him milk the cows twice per day. Weeks three and four were a mix of cheese fabrication, farm work, and store sales, depending on the business needs.

At the beginning, cheesemaking is a difficult and stressful process that one cannot fully grasp. There is truly an art to the practice, balanced with time sensitivity that Hervé has carefully mastered with years of practice and observation. The specialty of the process, combined with the initially huge language barrier I faced, made this week the most difficult of the whole internship. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed learning about this traditional cheesemaking practice that has existed in Hervé’s family for decades.

All cheese (hard and soft) made at GAEC Boisy begins as fromage blanc, a soft white cheese that is well-known and loved in the Cote Roannaise. Fromage blanc production starts with culturing fresh milk with presure (I do not know the name in English). The presure, along with a lactic acid ferment, transforms the liquid milk into a semi-soft substance that can be directly transformed into fromage blanc. Hervé measures the presure everyday and the ferment every three days, so that there is always milk being prepared for processing to cheese. In the summer when demand is high, he uses four large vats of fermented cream each day; in the winter, demand is slightly less, so he prepares three.

Once the cream is ready, the process of fromage blanc fabrication begins by skimming the off liquid on the surface (“whey,” in English). For Hervé’s production, this liquid serves two key purposes. The first is product quality and consumer taste; whey keeps the fromage blanc fresh, and some customers prefer the taste of fromage blanc with extra “jus” (whey). The other is production efficiency. Unused whey from cheesemaking is returned through a series of pipes to the pig barn, where it is collected in a tank and fed to the pigs each evening in specified quantities (see figures 1 and 2). With this method, no whey is wasted or unnecessarily disposed of.

After the whey is skimmed off each vat, the cultured cream is ready to be made into cheese. The block is cut into small cubes with a large fork-like object called a tranche, five ways across and three times down the length of the vat. Using two simple tools – a scoop and a scraper – the cheese is measured by hand into containers of equal size. The containers are covered by a mold called a repartiteur to ensure product size is consistent each time the cream is scooped into cheese.

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A portion of the cheese measured into the block mule is taken immediately out of the mule and sold same-day as fromage blanc within the farm store. The majority of the cheese, however, sits for the entire morning in the block mule and slowly begins to sink. By afternoon, when it is more compact, the cheese is turned to even out the drying process. It sits overnight, and the next morning is placed in the driers and turned into rigotte. The majority of cheese is made into rigotte, with a small portion aged further as bleu in a humidifier.

Once the cheesemaking was finished (the most time-sensitive task of the morning), my role varied based on the farm’s needs. Sometimes I would work alongside Eva, Hervé’s eldest daughter, in the farm store. It was a great way to practice speaking French, and to become better acquainted with the different products sold and their popularity among consumers. I would help serve the cheese and package the orders for the customers, while Eva worked the cash register. I tried to work the cash register a few times, but it was very stressful for me because at the time, I did not speak much French.

As a result of the language barrier, more often than not, I preferred to work behind-the-scenes in the fromagerie, weighing and packaging the cheeses and sometimes, the charcuterie products. I found this to be equally interesting, as I got to know the farm products in a different way—by touching and smelling (tasting was at lunchtime!) It also gave me a sense for how the business adapts to reach more clientele and to stay economically viable. For example, the cheeses sold at local grocery stores (rigotte, bleu, and apericone) are hard cheeses that do not lose quality of taste or shape as they travel from farm to consumer. They are not necessarily the most popular, but the most practical to sell.

Understanding of the economic environment Ferme de Boisy is in the business of selling quality farm cheeses to the common consumer

in the Cote Roannaise. Although the cheeses are artisan, they are not “gourmet” – it is not a cave production, for example. The cheeses are fairly priced to reach a diverse range of clientele. Prices are cheaper at the farm store than at the supermarket, due to the transport costs associated with making the deliveries and the fees associated with selling on grand surface.

The majority of clients who come directly to the farm to buy are older residents of the surrounding communities. There are also a fair amount of local families who bring their kids to see the farm and buy some products, especially on the weekends. Occasionally, in the summer time some tourists come through, usually French tourists on holiday in the region. While I was en stage, there was a family from Khazakstan that came for a visit with some French friends!

As the Cote Roannaise is a heavily agricultural region, specifically in dairy, the farm is always working to differentiate itself from the competition. The farm store gives the Ferme de Boisy a brand recognition that other farms do not have, and this is a great advantage. The farm worked with local marketing students a few years ago to update the logo to be visually attractive and representative of the business goals (“je produis, je transforme, je vends”). This year, the farm is working polish its digital image, by updating the website and staying current on social media.

Strategic analysis and recommendation/suggestions Ferme de Boisy is a thriving and vibrant meat and dairy production business. In terms of the

techniques and production efficiency, I don’t think anything should be changed. Hervé has a precise system, and he knows his products extremely well. He also has a business sense and is always changing up the product line to stay interesting to consumers. He has an intuitive ability to weigh the material availability with consumer demands; for example, toward the end of my

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internship, he was experimenting with making yogurt from some surplus milk, that would be sold later on in the season when the weather turned colder. He knows that clients like to try new products and not see the same thing all the time, and he is flexible to adapt his strategies accordingly. From my perspective, Hervé and the other proprietors need no help with their production or marketing strategies.

If anything, the only recommendation I would have would be to expand the farm’s market reach beyond the Cote Roannaise. I think the farm is producing quality cheeses that would be very well-received in other regions. However, this is more a question of interest than possibility. As Hervé explained to me, he is typically French conservative in the way he thinks about his business, “if it works, why change it?” Additionally, producer market access into major cities like Lyon can be difficult, due to high traffic volume and competition with industrial brands.

Focus on cultural and linguistic differences Key cultural differences

The main cultural difference I experienced throughout the internship was a difference in work culture. When I got to the farm, I learned very quickly that while the staff work hard when they are on the clock, there is a high value placed on work-life balance. Every salarie at GAEC Boisy gets five weeks of paid vacation each year, and the schedule is arranged to ensure everyone works and rests an equal amount throughout the year.

The other cultural differences I noticed were around food. Food is a focal point of life in France. The two-hour midday break at the farm always included a multi-course lunch starting with a salad, a main course, yogurt or cheese, fruit or dessert, and finished with coffee. French food includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and of course, bread.

Comparison with the United StatesIn the United States, people work long hours with very few breaks, and sometimes

weekends. Holiday time is never a given and does not exist in some low paid jobs (like a restaurant server, for example). If you have a generous employer, you may receive two weeks of paid vacation each year, but that is the maximum. In general, workers are overworked and underpaid in the United States.

I also found the pace of work in France to be faster and more efficient than I was accustomed to. With long hours and minimal breaks in the U.S., people tend to work more slowly to make it through through the day. For example, when I worked in an ice cream shop one summer in the U.S., I was assigned an eight-hour shift with a thirty-minute break. If I worked at my most efficient pace, I would tire before the end of my shift, so I learned to slow down my work pace. I did not realize how much this was ingrained into my own personal work ethic until I came to France and saw everyone buzzing around me, as I maintained a pace of work that was much slower. I was still operating with the thought that I was working long hours with minimal breaks. I didn’t arrive at understanding the rhythm of the French workday until several weeks into my internship.

Increased efficiency has its advantages not just for the employee work-life balance, but obviously the business, as well. One of my first realizations was how few workers were needed to maintain the operation; in the summer, at the peak of demand, there were a maximum of five workers (including me) on cheesemaking each morning. To return to my comparison with the ice cream shop, at the peak of summer demand, the manager would staff seven workers just to fill customer orders and keep the machines operational – not even including the back of

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shop staff that were responsible for cleaning and supply stocking. The difference in staff size alone between France and the U.S. indicates the higher value of an efficient worker versus an exhausted worker to a business.

Focus on one particular situationThe farm work schedule is organized such that each staff member is assigned a specific task

for the day. This allows the cheese production to follow a smooth timetable with little question about who does what. As an intern, I was rarely assigned a specific task because Hervé wanted me to try out all the different functions of the fabrication. But then he discovered that I had a special ability for molding the apericone cheese, so this became my individual task some mornings.

In the U.S. when you are assigned a task at work, it is assumed that you will complete the task individually (i.e. without assistance from others). So, I thought that since I was the person assigned to make the apericones, it would be my work to set up, start, and finish their fabrication, and I didn’t expect anyone to help me. I was surprised, and even a bit annoyed, when the other fromagerie workers kept assisting me with the placement of the placards and the grates underneath the apericone mold. To me, this was an insult to my ability to work individually, a very strong component of American work culture. When assigned a task in the United States, it is expected that you will finish it to the best of your ability – without any outside help.

Finding myself becoming agitated by the assistance, I had to take a minute to collect myself and assess the situation. I realized that there is much more of a collective sense of work culture in France. If someone sees that something needs to be done, they will step up and help out – even if the task is not personally assigned to them. This is not meant to be insulting to the person to whom the task was assigned, but helpful for the group collectively. It took me some time to realize this and to become accustomed to the difference between working styles in the United States versus France. Conclusion

This was a fantastic internship for so many reasons. I learned about a production system with which I was completely unfamiliar prior to arrival (dairy and meat). I also got my first taste of French life, language, and culture – perhaps most importantly, language. One month of total immersion into French was tiring and stressful at times, but a truly amazing way to pick up the language and become comfortable conversing. The Burnot’s were extremely patient and understanding with my language level, and they always made me feel comfortable to try, even if I didn’t arrive at getting my point across.

Hervé also arranged several excursions to a range of attractions in the region. For the agricultural visits, we saw two vineyards, a cave cheese production, industrial pork and beef, small scale dairy/yogurt fabrication, and small scale cheese fabrication (from a former stagiere at the Ferme de Boisy), a dairy collective, and an industrial dairy product factory. Culturally, we visited an ancient abbey in Charlieu, went out to eat at a classical French restaurant in Renaison, and saw several ancient castles and churches. Hervé truly went above and beyond to make this a special and memorable introduction to France.

Thank you again, Sigolene and ISARA, for curating this opportunity to live and work on a French farm for a month. It’s a really unique opportunity that I would not have known of without your assistance. And thank you, of course, to Hervé, Catrine, Éva, Maud, Ambre and all

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the relatives for warmly welcoming me into your family. I am so grateful for the connections I have made to you all, and the memories we have shared together.

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Appendix: figuresFigure 1: the chalk pad beside each pen tells Hervé how many cubic liters of whey each pig pen receives. This number varies based on the number of pigs in the pen, their size, and the time until slaughter.

Figure 2: the red lever is pulled to begin the release of whey into the pig trough. Hervé closes the lever when the digital number ahead matches the number on the chalk pad.

Figure 3: Hervé regarding the pigs as they eat their dinner. It’s important to watch how the pigs eat because often when a pig is ill, it will eat very little or nothing.

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Figure 4: Hervé bottle feeding a newborn veal

Figure 5: visiting 6 month old cows at La Petite Domaine, an industrial dairy plant

Figure 6: I always enjoy spending time with the Burnot’s!

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