These farms are representative of the organisation and structure of French dairy and beef farms, and are complementary in terms of their soil and climate conditions, animals breeds, their applied research equipment and their production systems. Every farmer can identify himself wih the practices and technical management of these experimental farms, and can therefore seek to adapt the innovative solutions developed by F@rm XP to their own farm.
There are 4 experimental dairy farms in the F@RM XP network: Les Trinottières (49), La Blanche Maison (50), Derval (44) and Trévarez (29), which has two sites. The table shows the key figures for the dairy units on these farms to illustrate the diversity of the system: from 85 to 185 hectares for 56 to 135 cows.
There are 4 beef farms in the F@RM XP network: Les Etablières (85), Thorigné d'Anjou (49), Jalogny (71) and Mauron (56). The figures sets out the main structural and technical characteristics of the farms to show the diversity and complementarity of the system: from 62 to 284 hectares and a wide range of finished cattle production such as young cattle, steers, heifers and beef and dairy cows, as well as steer production.
The experimental farms implement complementary research programmes that enable them to reach as many dairy and suckler farmers as possible. The farms take part in various partnership projects, conduct analytical trials, expert appraisals and practical demonstrations, and evaluate innovative breeding systems. They are excellent sites for transferring solutions to farmers and are educational tools for initial and continuing training courses.
