For nine days, the breeders who exhibit their animals at the International Agricultural Show in Paris are on deck long before daybreak and until late at night. Behind-the-scenes report from “the largest farm in France” before the arrival of some 70,000 daily visitors.
It is barely 6am, Porte de Versailles, in Paris. In three short hours, lovers of agriculture will crisscross the aisles of the show. But before that, we have to clean up and take care of the animals, more than 4,000, from 400 different breeds this year.
In the huge pavilion 1, the pigs are still sleeping, despite the powerful neon light of this gigantic shed, which has started up again. It is very hot, the air vents do not run at full speed during the night. As for the cows, unavoidable stars of the show, it is not the same. Awoken by herders with misty eyes after their short night, the 360 dairy cows begin their day with milking, except for those who must first feed their young. Over the entire duration of the show, 65,000 liters of milk are recovered and then transported to a dairy cooperative near Orléans, around a hundred kilometers from Paris.
Then comes shower time, with lukewarm water, because they love “Blows a breeder. Behind the pavilion, a giant open-air bathroom where, lined up close to each other, the cattle are soaped from “head to toe” then rinsed with a jet of water. Ordinarily, they do not receive such meticulous treatment, no daily shower, but at Agricultural centreyou have to be on your 31 when more than 600,000 people are looking at you.
A real beauty salon
After the shower, it’s time for brushing, untangling the hairs of the tail, smoothing all the limbs, clippers, razors, even hair dryers or installing decorations when a “parade” in the ring is expected. Newman, a 1,700 kilo bull, regular in the living room as Max explains, his owner from Charente-Maritime, is having his hair combed, he has already taken a shower. ” Today is competition day for him. So we pamper him even more “.
While the cattle are out walking “to stretch their legs”, their sites are cleaned from top to bottom. You have to remove the dung, add straw, make sure everything is clean before opening. A coming and going of trucks unloading more than 300 tonnes of straw during the show.
After their toilet, the “breakfast”. Each cattle swallows 25 kilos of hay per day, “ a little less than usual due to the heat “says a breeder.
Obviously, the cows seem happy in the capital. ” They’re not stressed at all. amused an owner. The first day, yes, maybe a little, but it’s like when someone who arrives from Aveyron for the first time in Paris and has to take the metro; after a few days you get used to it “. And to explain that if the cows were stressed, they would ruminate in an unusual way by twisting their necks, but this is not the case…. “ Here, it’s total comfort for them. Look at the amount of straw they have, they don’t have that in the barn. It’s a vacation for them. »
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Special treatment for the Snow muse
If there’s one cow that seems over the moon, it’s 4-year-old Snow. Slumped in a space much larger than that of its congeners, it is the face of the 58th edition of the show. Of the Abondance breed, she was chosen by professionals in the sector to appear on the 2022 poster. She best represents the breed, explains its owner Arnaud Missillier, a farmer in Grand-Bornand, in Haute-Savoie. A beautiful mahogany red dress, two beautiful glasses around the eyes to attenuate the reverberation of the sun and thus make it perfectly adapted to the mountain environment, mustaches, black clogs. In terms of morphology, she perfectly meets the criteria of the breed too, she also has perfect udders which produce excellent milk. »
For nine days, Neige, visibly badly awakened at 6 a.m., wears a huge bell around her neck. She can be proud to be photographed with all passing politicians, and this especially at the time of the presidential election this year.
Nine o’clock has struck, the lowing disappears under the hubbub of the first visitors. Until 7 p.m., the animals will be scrutinized, admired, caressed, rewarded before being able to rest. After a new milking, when they are asleep, the breeders will in turn be able to take a breather, get together to party before waking up at 6am. And so it has been since 1964, the date of the modern version of the International Agricultural Show…