The ovine sector
The ovine sector in Midi-Pyrenees, which has gained renown through its high quality cheeses, owes its competitiveness to a focus on quality. In this sector, technological excellence and coherent monitoring are induced through the agrichains federated by AgriMip Sud-Ouest Innovation.
Industrialists and breeders collaborate to achieve excellence
Roquefort cheese, a flagship product in the region, has benefited from long-term collaboration between industrialists and breeders. Since 1930, the CGPLB (Confederation of ewe's milk producers and Roquefort cheese industrialists) hasundertaken to manage the common interests of all the players in the segment, support rigorous monitoring of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) and provide services to breeders, leading to the implementation of scientific responses to the challenges encountered. This successful experience has naturally been integrated into the agrichain context.
Combating stereotypes
Contrary to stereotypical ideas on the subject, the production of quality mutton in Midi-Pyrenees is an economically viable and competitive activity, compared to imported products. The results of studies concerning the Midi-Pyrenees region show that 30% of stock breeders achieve a profit margin equivalent to that of producers of milk for Roquefort cheese, as long as they meticulously apply agronomic and animal production technologies.Genetic research, applying AgriMip Sud-Ouest Innovation agrichain engineering, has led to enhancement of Lacaune stocks and the adaptation of fodder resources to increasingly drier climate conditions.
A challenge for the ovine sector
With the Ovins d’Oc project, the ovine sector in Midi-Pyrenees has taken up the challenge of reclaiming 10% of French market share by increasing volumes (500,000 more ewes within 15 years), and of reinvesting land freed up within the framework of European agricultural policy.This project, federated through AgriMip Sud-Ouest Innovation, is based on the mobilization of genetic competencies targeted in a comprehensive outlook structured by the agrichain.