Is there anyone that would be able to give some advise on becoming a farmer in France without having to obtain a Diploma in farming ( BPREA ) ? We have a farm that is currently leased to 2 farmers ( no animals) but the lease expires in mid 2017. We were told that we can have the farm back and not renew the lease if we became farmers and farmed the land ourselves which we are happy to do.
We were then told by The Chamber of Agriculture 2 years ago that as we were over 40yrs old that we did not need to have any formal farming qualifications. Now that the time is almost here ( we have to give the current farmers 18 mths notice to leave) we are now being told that the Farming Courts are unlikely to return to us our land to farm unless we have a Diploma in farming; which by the way costs €9600 and takes 1 year to obtain.
Hi Michael. I had a look last night and again just now but no friend request has come through. I'll try from my end, OK? And I'm going to ring my friend now as we haven't heard from him in a while - and it's Christmas.
I used to live on his farm in the early 90s - in a fire engine.
Hi.
I have sent you a invite for us to become friends, then that will enable us to exchange phone numbers privately .
Michael.
I have a good friend who has just packed it in after beef farming in Normandie for 20+ years. He went through the whole process. I'm sure he'd be happy to share his knowledge if you ask. If you send me a personal message I'll pass on the contact details.
Hi Howard,
We do not want to claim any subsidy unless ofcourse we are entitled to. We are meeting with the local tree specialist in January to find out more info. In terms of training, I do not mind going on short courses, but I find that anything more than this at my age will be a bit much of an ask.
I find it quite ironic that here I am being asked to do a full time course at great expense to myself (unless I can prove to the French authorities that I am unemployed ) No chance! and yet I can see all around me local farmers, mine included that look and i am sure have not seen the inside of a classroom for the last 40 years!
Thank you so much Michael. It is nice to know that we are not the only ones that have experienced the problems that can arise in terms of trying to reclaim our land in terms of farming.
We will look into your suggestion of the DPU of the land. We are in Dept.82 ( Tarn et Garonne ) and so Limoges would not be too far for us to do a short course in farming, especially if there is the possibility of English translators.
Your past and probably even current situation with your farm seems very akin to ours. Would you mind if we made contact by telephone as there are so many questions that we would like to ask. We are currently in the UK for the Christmas hols and can give you our tel.no here if you wish or visa versa.
Many thanks
Tot and Bruce
to be honest Howard that's how I interpreted it too! Good info on the Woodland and nuts issues too :)
Forum land eh?
Chris
It could because because they are red-hot on safety. A licence, if there is such a thing, to drive agricultural machinery? Meanwhile, could you be opening a garden centre perhaps? They'll be a way round it I'm sure.
Hi Tot.
We where in a similar situation 5 years ago when looking to purchase a farm also with 20 hectares which was a working farm growing cereals, we decided after being advised not to rent out the land due to the to many complications which renting land out brings.
We went to the chamber of agriculture at cahors and was told that no experience or qualifications where needed, i worked in metal all my life and had just retired at 60 so was ready for a change.
To be on the safe side we enrolled on a 2 week course at the agriculture college at limoges which they ran with english translators twice a year, a very intense course but a lot of valuable information was learned.
Moving on 5 years we are really enjoying the farming experience using contractors to do most of the work,you do not make a fortune out of it but a feeling of being part of the farming community opens a lot of doors.
Word as spread that we are thinking of retirement and now we have got a few local farmers knocking on our door looking to rent our land, land i have been told will be in big demand due to the changes in the farm subsidies next year giving smaller farms more money.
We will not be renting our land out and have started to look at the best way forward for us and the land.
I hope there is some advise within my reply.
Do you know who owns the DPU's for your land, these are what pays the subsidies,the answer to this will make a big difference on how easy the road forward is for you, please let me know and i will help as much as i can.
Regards
Michael.
My interpretation of this link is that you only need to prove you have farming expertise or take the formal training if you want to claim support from the CAP. Under these circumstances, one could say that it is eminently reasonable to be able to prove you know what you are doing. The potential subsidy would have to be worth more than the cost of the training to justify it, unless you thought that the training would save you in the longer term.
In respect of woodland, would this be environmental/landcare or do you plan to farm trees commercially? If the former, you might be eligible for govt support under the set aside program, if it still exists. If the latter, that would count as an agricultural business. I am unsure of the status of nut orchards. However, forests and nut orchards are potentially quite costly to establish on a commercial basis , so government support might be desirable. There are ways to establish woodlands and orchards on the cheap, if desired but they are more risky.
Commercial woodlands and nut orchards take a lot of planning and research on finding the most suitable crops for your land in terms of soil type, nutrient, climate, wind direction and speaking from experience, getting training before you start is cheaper and more efficient than doing it after.
If you took the training anyway, you would be able to hold your own with the local farming community and walk the talk. This might mitigate any bad feelings generated as result of terminating the existing lease.
We did the same here in Burgundy. When we bought the land our purchase had to be approved by Safer to give any other farmers the opportunity to purchase it. We have one and a half hectares.
We have brought some of the land into our garden for a swimming pool but have extended our potager and created an orchard. The rest of the land is occasionally used by a farmer with adjoining fields.
20 hectares is pushing the limits to have a smallholding but possible, no expertise required. It's the same for maraichere, running a garden nursery and bee keeping.
If you have the taste for it the bee keeping has a lot of advantages.
Walnut production probably doesn't require qualifications either.
What is the land now? How does it break down, are there already some trees / woodland?
Chris
Never mind. Was just wondering - would trees count as farming? Because it'd be all Woodland wouldn't it if you're thinking of walnuts and hazlenuts?
You'd be a forestier then rather than an agriculteur - or would you?! I'm curious because we have some friends up in the Loire region who bought what had been a farm/fermette and they're in the process of turning it into a (rather large) garden, or gardens to be more precise. I could ask them what the status of the land was when they bought it if you like?
We were hoping to have part of the land as woodland and to produce wallnuts and maybe hazelnuts on the rest.
Hello David,
I have seen the Points Of Info site. It is very good and quite comprehensive but does not help me in my particular situation. Apparently, if the farmers object to us taking back the land( by not renewing the contract) then our only way is by showing that we are qualified as farmers and this is not an easy task ! We do not live full time in France at the moment but were hoping to prepare things for that time when we would be spending a fair amount of our time here.
Are you actually intending to produce something and if so what ideas did you have?
Chris
Don't know if you've seen this site Tot?
http://www.terresdeurope.net/en/being-farmer-farming-france-agriculture-farmers.asp
Might be of use
Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your thoughts. We are a little younger than 63 years, 55 to be exact, so hopefully that may make a difference.
The land involved is about 20 hectares with part of an outbuilding which is used to keep the farmers tractors but which is very close to the main house. You mentioned that there may be other possibilities ?
That as I understand it is correct OR if you can prove you have previous substantial farming experience in the type of farming you are proposing to pursue.
The last person I knew that had to do this was 63 years old but really wanted to do it.
How much land is it? There may be other possibilities.
Chris