Dairy products from the Ferme d’Esclaye – Pondrôme
The Henin family has been running the Ferme d’Esclaye for 4 generations, raising dairy cows, producing milk and processing it into butter and cheese directly on site in Pondrôme.
At the Esclaye farm, everyone has a role to play, whether it is Jean-Claude Henin or one of his three children, Anne-Laure, Marc-André and Jean-Philippe. As the latter explains:
There are four of us working: my father, my brother, my sister and me. My sister does a lot of processing and selling. With my brother, we work in pairs, we arrange ourselves according to the weekends and the morning and evening milking. My brother takes care of a bit of everything and I’m more on the tractors, among the animals, I make sure that all the fences are in order, the maintenance of the machines. And my father, he does a bit of everything too.
Jean-Philippe Henin
Anne-Laure Henin welcomes us to their cheese factory to tell us about the manufacture of the various dairy products they produce:
We produce a semi-hard, pressed cheese made from raw milk. There are three that are made from whole milk: there is the plain, the Beaurinois (made with the beer “La tournée beaurinoise”) and then the garlic and fine herbs. Then we have a fourth, which is made with semi-skimmed milk. As we also make butter, we have tried to make the most of semi-skimmed milk. Rather than sending it all to the dairy, we also transform a little into cheese. As a result, this cheese is plain, and we also offer it grated. As it has a little less fat, it is less creamy, and so it also presents itself well in grated form.
Anne-Laure Henin
The excellent quality of the Henin family’s products comes, on the one hand, from the specific operation of this farm. As Marc-André explains:
To make good butter and good cheese, there is first of all a whole know-how in terms of craftsmanship. That’s my sister. And then, the first thing is to have quality milk. And we are extremely lucky on the farm, because, even if we work on 110 hectares in total, there are 50 hectares which are directly accessible to the cows on foot. As these plots are close to the farm, it’s great for milking. Indeed, as they have to be milked twice a day, we can’t afford to spend 2 hours a day bringing the cows back.
Mar-André Henin
In addition, we work with several plots of land that we will rotate with cereals. We will benefit from the grassland, which will restructure the soil and improve its richness. After that, we will produce cereals for the animals and for human beings. And we adapt, of course, according to the weather because the growth of the grass will vary greatly according to it.
On the other hand, in order to go even further, these breeders-farmers-producers have decided not to limit themselves to the organic label but to become Nature et Progrès:
What we really like about Nature et Progrès is that the basis of their label is that farmers must be organic. After that, Nature et Progrès has a whole series of things that are visible to the consumer and to the farmers, in terms of livestock management, in terms of food, in terms of energy considerations, in terms of the relationship with the consumer.
Marc-André Henin
Finally, animal welfare is just as important to them as producing good products. This is why they have embarked on an innovative project:
To produce milk, you have to remember that cows have to produce a calf every year. So we said to ourselves that we would try to raise our cows and calves in the best possible conditions, in terms of well-being, access to pasture, getting closer to their natural behaviour, etc.
Mar-André Henin
Since this year, we have been doing a unique experiment. We took five cows and left them with their calves. All the results are positive: we have managed to have an average production of 4,000 litres on our cows, we have very good growth in the calves, no behavioural problems, etc. There are even advantages in terms of the quality of the animals. There are even advantages in terms of the farmer’s quality of life because instead of milking twice a day, we only milk once a day. It is the calf that takes care of the milk produced during the day.
To conclude, the nutritional quality of the dairy products from the Esclaye farm depends on the operation of the farm, the quality of the food eaten by the cows and the treatment they receive. Not to mention that the transformation process is done on site, in Pondrôme itself!
To buy products from the Esclaye farm, you can go to the shops in Beauraing: Le Comptoir Paysan, Le Four à Chaux, le Carrefour market.
For more information:
– Page Facebook de la Ferme d’Esclaye
– Le test de la Ferme de l’Esclaye (Pondrôme): laisser le jeune veau plus longtemps auprès de sa mère
– À Pondrôme, trois des quatre enfants du fermier reprennent la ferme : un cas rare
