At the Linciaux Farm, we have a credo: “PRODUCE LITTLE BUT WELL, BEAUTIFUL AND GOOD”.
We do not do intensive farming or breeding, but grow crops on small areas, raise livestock on a human scale respecting animal welfare, in pleasant surroundings, generating tasty products and enriching encounters.
In our fields and vegetable garden, we are not looking for quantity, but quality. Far from the race for yield, every day we grow quality food from sustainable agriculture. With the aim of encouraging biodiversity on our land, we established an extensive agroecology programme when we took over the family farm at the end of 2016: planting hedges and trees along the edges of fields and meadows (agroforestry), creating flower beds every 60 m to welcome beneficial insects into the very heart of our crops, planting anti-erosion strips, creating ponds, permanent soil cover, etc.
Whether we are talking about cows, sheep or chickens, our livestock farming is always on a small scale. This means that we can give them our full attention and they have enough space, in the meadows or stables, to mature in the best possible conditions (very few diseases!). For example, one hectare of meadow is dedicated to each cow. Reproduction is natural (no artificial insemination) and births also take place at the mother’s own pace (no scheduled caesarean sections). Once born, the calf drinks its mother’s milk and stays close to her for at least 6 months. Finally, as cows are herbivores, our herd is fed exclusively on grass (hay in the winter), which is best suited to the bovine digestive system.
At the Linciaux Farm, we rear cows (Charolais), sheep (Ardennes fox head breed) and chickens (Coucou de Malines). These animals all contribute to the balance and cycle of the farm: the cows produce manure to fertilise the fields, the sheep graze the orchard, and the hens eat the worms from the cow and sheep dung, then fertilise the meadows with their droppings, which are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. Our farming methods are as natural as possible, with each animal having a very specific role to play in this human-scale ecosystem.
Because we rear our animals in a way that respects their well-being and the rhythm of their lives, the products we produce are of the highest quality. For example, the beef we produce is “organic & 100% grass-fed”. This means that the beef has only been fattened on grass (or hay), which is very rare and gives it superior nutritional qualities.
The fruit and vegetables in the vegetable garden are grown in the spirit of permaculture. No machinery is used, only manual work, to respect the soil, no use of pesticides of course (needless to say), working in symbiosis with nature (beneficial insects and plants) to produce living vegetables bursting with nutrients.
To look after our meadows and orchards, we rely on our Ardennes fox head sheep, a hardy local breed. They look after our ‘Coucou de Malines’ hens, which share their meadow and provide us with farm eggs with an incomparable flavour.
A pleasant environment makes it easier to work, learn and listen to nature. That is why we do everything we can to make the farm a place where human facilities blend in as well as possible with the surrounding nature.
The farm often attracts the interest of journalists. Here are a few examples of articles or reports that have been produced.
