In recent years, the livestock world has undergone a small revolution: the search for the well-being of the animal and the creator. The “Happy” approach offers breeders who so wish advice and support to improve their lives and that of their flock.
In recent years, the image of creation has suffered from the excesses experienced by the profession. Industrialization, race for profit that leads to animal abuse and discomfort to the farmer. For the Obione company and its approach “Happy”this situation is not inevitable.
Who said the life of a cow on a farm can’t be satisfying? That the creator can only be a convict of the earth who sacrifices his professional and personal well-being?
A farm that is doing well is a farm where the animals are in good health. And to have healthy animals, you need animals that are well – Léna Joannès
– Léna Joannes – Obione
Approach “Happy” made the bet to return his nobility cards to this beautiful profession putting human and animal welfare at the center of your concerns. For this, audits are carried out on the farms that wish to receive the seal. “Happy”.
Léna’s commitment is the happiness of animals
Lena Joannes worked for Obione for four years. An agronomist by training, she joined Lionel Reisdorffer’s company after meeting him at a fair in Dijon. Specializing in marine mammals, nothing predestined her to take care of the well-being of cows and reproductives.
Lionel Reisdorffer told me it was an approach to promoting happy breeders, happy animals. And it immediately caught my attention – Léna Joannès
– Léna Joannes – Obione
What Léna likes most about this process are human relationships: “I had extraordinary encounters with passionate people who convey their passion […] It feeds my daily life.”
How to make a cow happy?
The observation is simple: a farm that is doing well is a rational creation that does not sacrifice well-being for productivity. You have to understand and be able to adapt to the cow’s natural schedule. Thus considered, the animals are more serene and in good health. “and suddenly, it also promotes the well-being of the creator”.
The role of Lena and her audit and tryaccompany the creator who want to achieve this standard of living, well-being and functioning on their farm. For this, more than 200 criteria are taken into account during the assessment, such as good water quality, comfort, slippery or non-slippery terrain or even the light in the shed.
For example, for the water quality, Léna asks the breeder if he can drink the water from the trough, because you need to know that cows have a more developed sense of smell than ours and that dirty water bothers them. Per comfort, there is the knee test which consists of falling several times on the knees where the cows are resting. If it is not painful and the diaper is comfortable, the test is validated. To assess the quality ofgrip to the ground, you have to test your qualities as a ballerina. If turning on one foot makes more than three quarters of a turn, the floor is very slippery and possibly dangerous for the animal.
It is a fair educational way of talking to everyone about the expectations we have at this level. [qualité de l’eau] – Lena Joannes
– Léna Joannes – Obione
For the breeder too, happiness is in the meadow
Approach “Happy” also takes into account the welfare of the breeder. Obione’s idea is to meet these creators who “are good in your boots”who love and respect this profession that consists of working with living beings: “And that’s when we realized that there were happy breeders and that they had animals that were really good.” Faced with this finding, the question arose of how to highlight them and bring them recognition.
So we created the label to bring recognition and also for these farms to become models that can bring some elements to other breeders who would like to improve – Léna Joannès
– Léna Joannes – Obione
During the evaluation of their farm, breeders are asked about their professional and personal feelings, their relationship with their livestock, their quality of life, etc. All these elements are taken into account when obtaining the label. “Happy”.
When we asked Léna about the typical breeder profile “Happy”she claims it’s “open, dynamic people who want to be an actor in creation and a bearer of values”. These farmers are passionate and always in demand to improve “while in general, these are farms that are already doing very well”.
Lead and inspire people who really work to improve the tradition they have in their hands – Léna Joannès
With the creation of the seal “Happy”It is reassuring to see that the tradition of respectful breeding of people and animals finds a second wind and that will inspire future generations of breeders.