From March 18 to 20, the EDE of Puy-de-Dôme, the Cantal Chamber of Agriculture, and the Livestock Institute organized the first national meetings of the project, bringing together stakeholders and experts to discuss carbon farming and carbon certification.
A First Day of Discussions and Presentations
The first day was dedicated to indoor presentations to better understand the issues of carbon farming and carbon certification, as well as their practical application in Auvergne. An overview of agriculture in the Massif Central highlighted the region’s specific characteristics: a land of grassland livestock farming, predominantly family-run farms of modest size. The farms involved in Cantal and Puy-de-Dôme are expected to generate a total reduction of 18,214 tons of CO2 equivalent over five years, equivalent to 10,290 round-trip flights between Paris and New York.
The progress of the LIFE Carbon Farming project was then detailed. The project aims to establish a common European method for carbon certification and assess the costs associated with implementing low-carbon projects.
The Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) provided updates on carbon certification. A focus was given to the evolution of the Low Carbon Label in 2025 and the European carbon certification framework.
Finally, a representative from Crédit Agricole Centre-France shared their experience and initiatives implemented to reduce their carbon footprint.
A Second Day in the Field
March 19 was dedicated to field visits, with concrete discussions on sustainable agricultural practices. A big thank you to GAEC du Bois Joli and INRAE of Marcenat for their hospitality.
Visit to GAEC du Bois Joli
Welcomed by Patrice Chassard, participants discovered a farm that fully valorizes its milk for the production of Saint-Nectaire cheese. With 120 dairy cows in a grassland system, natural pastures range from 800 to 1,300 meters in altitude. The farm uses a mobile milking parlor during the grazing season. The gross milk emissions amount to 0.92 kg CO2 equivalent per liter, 70% of which is offset by carbon storage in pastures and 19 km of hedgerows.
Joël Guillemin detailed the environmental results of Auvergne’s AOP cheese sectors, highlighting that grassland farms offset an average of 30% of their greenhouse gas emissions through carbon storage.
Émilie Delort (Association des Fromages d’Auvergne) and Émilie Rousset (Interprofession du Saint-Nectaire) presented the sector of the five AOP cheeses of Auvergne, emphasizing that the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region produces 34% of France’s AOP/IGP volumes and that the sector is the region’s second-largest employer after Michelin.
Visit to INRAE of Marcenat
INRAE of Marcenat is part of Herbipôle, a large-scale experimental platform at the regional and international levels. The site hosts 180 dairy cows, with an average production of 6,500 kg of milk per cow and 400 hectares of permanent grasslands (170 ha for mowing and 230 ha for grazing).
Several research projects are being conducted there:
- Marcinelle: An experiment to reconcile livestock farming with societal expectations through a participatory approach involving farmers, advisors, researchers, and citizens. The project aims to test innovative solutions for more sustainable dairy farming.
- Adaopt: Supporting AOP and IGP dairy sectors in adapting to climate change. For example, the project is testing alternative forages and assessing their impact on cheese quality.
- Compeale: A study on the link between cow feeding behavior and grassland biodiversity, and its impact on methane emissions.
A Third Day at GAEC Francon
The third day of these meetings featured a Farm Open Day at GAEC Francon (Tanavelle). GAEC Francon is a beef cattle farm specializing in Charolais breed, with 260 Livestock Units (LU), 3.5 full-time equivalent workers, and 100% permanent grassland. Its gross emissions from meat production amount to 17.6 kg CO2 equivalent per kg, 22% of which is offset by carbon storage in its grasslands and hedgerows.
The farm’s low-carbon project focuses on:
- Electricity production via a photovoltaic roof;
- Reducing heifer LU by lowering the renewal rate;
- Improving PBVV/LU by enhancing animal comfort in buildings (rubber mats on slatted floors);
- Seeking protein autonomy (overseeding, liming, early mowing stage);
- Methanization of livestock effluents.
Furthermore, a biogas project is being developed at the territorial level. The goal is to experiment with a solution to collect biogas produced by as many farms as possible in a simple and accessible way. This biogas could then be locally utilized for self-consumption on farms and for selling surplus energy.
This Open House Day also provided an opportunity to present the LIFE Carbon Farming project and its initial results to a broader audience.
These national meetings helped assess project progress, mobilize stakeholders around future climate and agricultural challenges, and showcase concrete actions implemented in the field to reduce the carbon footprint of mixed crop-livestock farms.
This project is co-funded by the LIFE Programs of the European Commission
