Benoit, an Alumni back to basics

Benoît HUNTZINGER (Agriculture, 2001, Beauvais), agricultural engineer and farmer at the Ferme des Blottières, is in the news with a report on NEO. His method? Total free-range farming, where predation is a reality to be reckoned with.His solution: Kastafiore, a Poitou donkey, in charge of protecting his flock of ewes. For the past three and a half years, Kastafiore has drastically reduced attacks from predators, mainly dogs and foxes.

With no buildings on his farm, Benoit relies on the donkey's natural territoriality. This system is particularly effective for small herds in enclosed areas. Yet few breeders adopt this method.

The Baudet du Poitou breed, endangered in the 70s with only forty individuals left, is now undergoing a conservation program. Benoit's initiative is helping to preserve this breed.

By returning to chemical-free farming, inspired by practices from before the agricultural revolution of the 60s, Benoit is proving that old-fashioned solutions, readapted, can meet modern challenges. Back to basics, but with a modern twist.

Discover his portrait in Neo here