I decided to leave Paris to raise goats in the countryside

February 20, 2019

I was born in Paris and grew up there. In my early twenties, I went through several very chaotic years marked by drug addiction and the streets. It was hard to get myself out of this and get out of it, but I got there.

I worked in the green and then in the restaurant business, but I always had it with the corner of my head the desire to live in the countryside and tend to a certain food autonomy by having a vegetable garden, animals, etc.

So, four years ago, we decided with my partner to leave the Paris region for the south of France. While he was working as a blacksmith, I continued to work in restoration and we started doing it seek solutions for training in animal husbandry.

Having a small farm and a herd of goats

Our idea was to have a small farm with a flock of one hundred goats raised outdoors in the pastures. And then from make cheese from their milk which could be sold directly on the farm, in markets or in restaurants.

Researching on the internet and thanks to the advice of Pôle Emploi, we found adult education in an agricultural high school in central France. It would have allowed us to prepare a professional license to be responsible for a farm. And above all good news: it is entirely financed by the Region and the Chamber of Agriculture!

The training is mainly theoretical, but there are internships that allow you to learn on the job and validate that this life is for you. And luckily for me it is! Of course, it is quite physical as I work with long working hours, but no more than in catering where you work hard, at dark hours and with a miserable pay, in the end.

At least, as a farmer, I spend my days outdoors and work the way I want, at my own pace, without anyone telling me what to do. Also, I really like the interaction with the goats (very interesting) and the cheese making!

Justine in front of the goat pen of the agricultural school

Partner to launch our breeding

We will both graduate with my partner at the end of the year and plan to work a little on other farms. Then we tell ourselvesmaybe we’ll team up with two other friends buy land and start together.

We calculated that about fifteen hectares were needed and we saw that it was possible to find them for about 100,000 euros, with a sheepfold and a dairy. The training we take also prepares us to create a file for the bank to demonstrate our future profitability.

We should also be able receive financial assistance to settle and purchase land since we are less than 40 years old. The fact of leaving with more people should allow us to free up time to be able to take holidays for example, and also to not be alone in the face of difficulties.

Adopt a minimalist lifestyle

We already know that we don’t want to do intensive agriculture at all, which requires large basic investments to get started. We are not in a productivist logic e we will go slow at the beginning, but since we will not have large loans to repay, our need for profitability will be less.

Especially since at the same time we plan to live a very simple life, without great needs. Living in a yurt, with a vegetable garden, making your own hygiene products, etc. Since we embarked on this adventure, a child has joined our family, and this motivates us even more to do everything to raise him on the farm respecting nature.

Do you dream of giving up everything to become a farmer? Do you live in the countryside with a minimalist lifestyle? Come and talk about it in the comments!

Photo credit: Arno Vermote / Unsplash