Organic and Native American barbarism in the heart of the Ardennes in Archimedes

Since 1998, Laurent has been growing bison in the New Archimedes. This is an adventure born out of curiosity about wildlife, but it also has a plan: low productivity farming but a lot of respect for the environment, especially in Ardennes.

With a stationary screw on his head, Laurent Nouveau enters one of the many layers of his “Bison Farm” with a pick-up. A small part of America in the heart of the Ardennes to see some of its American wolves: “Sixty mothers here are with their young and a few men, and it is difficult to approach them because they were not raised. This is a drawback when catching them, but otherwise they will live their lives outside for the rest of the year and be alone. There is not even a barn for the winter. “. A rigor that drastically reduces the cost of production for animals that travel a lot from one prairie to another.

Love born during several trips to the United States for this former motorcycle rider (72 500cc, starting in the current MotoGP segment): “JayIn 1993 he met a breeder near San Diego. Life was so short and after my life, I had to do something completely different, because I was originally from farming and it was coming home.“After the start in 1998. Results: 153 hectares of natural grasslands and a herd of 200 heads circling for a barbarian still attracts him:”He is a great animal. His intuition, his memory. It should not be bred but if we try to do it we can train it like a dog. Then what is the instinct to survive! The bison can live in a frantic dodger and survive the terrible cold in the middle of winter“.

An example of respectable agriculture

But savagery allows Laurent Nouveau to farm with a very low carbon footprint: “At the same age, a barbarian produces 50% less meat than the Belgian blue-white, but we cut costs so much that we put our bison in the natural meadows and this hectare will sink carbon. Because we do everything in a short round, we manage eco-friendly nature farming.“A model that obviously does not fit everywhere. Wild, low production and non-breeding, requires a lot of space, which is not affordable anywhere else in Belgium.”Even in Artennes now“The need for red meat cannot be met if there is only savagery everywhere. But Laurent Nouveau’s philosophy is to reduce the speed and intensity of production but at the same time consumption:”We should not continue to eat so much red meat. So the idea is low but unmatched energy quality of meat and locally produced consumption. Today, we continue to produce meat for export. And it doesn’t make sense anymore“.