These sheep that have been populating Mont Saint-Michel bay for ages, “It’s the fight of my life”says Yannick Frain. At 60, all jute, in his farm in Roz-sur-Couesnon (Ille-et-Vilaine), he embodies the fifth generation of lamb farmmen. They spend an average of 170 days there, traveling long distances for food in the herbus covered regularly by sea. The salicorn, the Obione, the Spartan, the fetuque make up their daily meal. A diet that gives tender and juicy meat, with low fat.
The profession requires, among other things, a solid knowledge of this area between land and sea, “Always in motion”. The dunes are formed, disappear, reforming according to the tidal currents, especially since the desensibly work of Mount. “One day my son won behind the wheel of his tractor, he is not about to forget it”confie Yannick Frain.
One of the twelve AOP meat from France
When he resumed family farming in 1988, he knew he inherited a fragile treasure, to be preserved. “” At the time, 5,000 lambs were actually raised on pre-savings, but 25,000 sold 25,000 ». So with his Norman neighbors, they set out to have the name recognized to protect local production. A long fight until the AOC (controlled designation of origin) in 2009 is obtained, then European AOP (protected origin) in 2013.
It is one of the six Breton appellations, with the Roscoff onion, the Coco de Paimpol, the Bouchot mussels of Mont Saint-Michel, the Cidre de Cornouaille and the Pommeau de Bretagne. “” But it is the only Brittany AOP meat. »» A title that she shares with eleven other productions across France, such as Bresse’s chicken, the black pork of Bigorre, the beef of Charolles … and two other ovine aop: the lamb of nearby bay and the Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie in the Pyrenees. And as the Union is strength, these 12 exceptional productions have gathered since 2019 in the FEVAO (Federation of AOP meats) to defend their interests.
It covers the Baie du Mont and Les Hares du Cotentin, from Saint-Benoit-des-Mondes (Ille-et-Vilaine) in Barneville-Carteret (Manche). Only lambs born, raised and slaughtered on this geographic area can claim the name. Provided you comply with the specifications. Controlled by a certifying body (CERTIS), it requires a minimum weight of 14 kg, at least 70 days of pasture, a flesh neither too fat nor too lean, “An external and internal firm fat and white to white cream” Specifies the document certified by INAO (National Institute of Origin and Quality). “Only meats compliance with these criteria can benefit from the PDO”insists the breeder.
On average, 85 % of the high lambs in the geographic area obtain the PDO classification which opens the doors of the best butchers (70 % of sales) and restaurants (20 %) throughout France. 10 % of production is sold directly on farms.
Production divided by two in ten years
But this AOP meat is “A masterpiece in danger”, Assures Yannick Frain. Production has decreased by half in ten years (1,800 lambs for 27 tonnes of meat in 2024), at the same rate as the number of breeders. “We were about fifteen at the start of the PDO, only 8 today. »» Most have retired without buyers. “Some have abandoned, tired of environmental constraints”in a very controlled natural space. “And then, the profession of breeder, in sheep as in cattle, is demanding, it is more difficult to arouse vocations”notes the one who has already welcomed “More than 200 trainees and apprentices” in his career.
In this profession, we must constantly take care of the health of animals. Even more at the moment, when Catarrhale Ovine (FCO) fever is gaining ground. Like every year, the sheep take their bath, in a pit filled with an insecticide solution. “But in addition, they were all vaccinated, in March first against the serotype 3, and in early August against the 8th.” Sage precaution, for a virus that decimated part of the sheep herd in other regions last year.