Both your parents retired a year ago, at the same time. For what ?
Nicolas Legentil – “We only wanted to do one exit from Gaec of the two partners, to make it simpler administratively. My parents took their retirement when my mother reached the legal retirement age, which was 62 years old. My father worked as a freelancer, he left at 65: he was born on the farm and didn't see himself stopping overnight. We started to think aboutorganization of work three or four years ago. Our goal is to stay with family, while maintaining the level of production and improving the work tools. We do not want to hire or partner with a third party. »
Breeding sheet
Gaec Legentil
• 2 associates
• 1,235,000 liters of milk
• 2 robots milking
• 120 prim’Holstein
• 240 places for fattening bull calves
• 330 ha of SAUincluding 110 ha of wheat, 35 ha of rapeseed, 90 ha of fodder corn, 80 ha of permanent meadow, 5 ha of purple clover, 10 ha of silphie
You have two workshops, milk and breastfeeding, important in terms of volume, plus cultures. How do we go from four to two UTHs while maintaining production?
NL – “We decided to group the bull calves and heifers in the same place as the dairy cows. Before, we had two other sites, one 10 km away, the other 3.5 km away. We drove there at least twice a day. We wasted more than thirty minutes a day on the road. Not to mention the times we had to go back urgently. In the new bull bull buildingwe have improved the contention to be able to intervene safely and alone. Thanks to the time we save on the road, we manage the workshop better than before, in particular by carrying out weighing.
We let's delegate for three years the harvest work at a AND. I enjoyed doing it, but I know we can't do everything together. Today I don't regret. Consideration is underway to also delegate thespreading of manure. We invested in a self-propelled silage harvester five years ago, because the mixer needed to be replaced. Indirectly, that was part of the thinking. Two years ago, we renewed it with a larger one, with a bowl no longer than 16 m3 but 22 m3. This allows us to save at least forty-five minutes a day by no longer snoozing in the evening. »
And in terms of workload?
NL – « Mes parents always help. We are in a situation that suits everyone: they don't see themselves suddenly arrested and we are happy to have them. It's easier for us to keep this organization by staying with the family than if a third party had arrived in the Gaec. In the morning, all the heavy work is done in two hours if there are no problems.
What changes a lot is the weekend rhythm. Before, we did one out of four – my parents did their two weekends together. Now thepenalty comes back every two weeks: we don't cancel on Sundays but you have to come to the robot. We certainly have a lot of work with my brother but we love it. On average, we work weeks of 55 to 60 hours, from Monday to Saturday lunchtime. We give ourselves the work we want to have. »
The day your parents can no longer – or less – help you, what will be your options?
NL – “We will see over time. We want to see with my brother if we can do it. The next reflection concerns thelayout of a kitchenas for a food robot. We will keep the railcar and we will group the components of the ration in the same place. On the other hand, if we have to hire one day to maintain our level of production, we will not be stuck either. But today the question does not arise, because our parents are still in the game. »
“What we anticipated”
• We had a good discussion with our parents about their departure, it was never a taboo subject.
• We modernized our system to reduce our daily working time: we installed a tool that detects heat on the milking robot and replaced the silo tires with straps to save fifteen minutes every three or four days.
