Dairying is essential for the Plateau by Yvette Delorme Paper published in Terroir Magazine in January 1996 Reproduced with the kind authorization of the author
The elected members and the farming representatives have initiated a concerted effort to rejuvenate dairy farming in the Plateau, recently impoverished by the restrictions of milk quotas. «Our project is to bolster the working farmer, convert him to a real partner in land management, and install at least five new farmers, in order to produce one million liters of milk fot the production of Comté» explained Bernard Argenti, elected member and a farmer himself. Pierre Pélisson, a cattle breeder, shares this idea: «Here, our cows produce the Comté, and nothing can replace dairy farming. It is essential to the development of tourism». At the cheese dairy in Brénod, the cooperative president Louis Massonet plans to expand the dairy and double the quantity of milk used for cheese production. As a result, the cheese dairy will be able to accommodate new farmers. Today, 1.6 million liters of milk, produced by 7 farms, is converted to Comté at the Brénod cheese dairy. It is the only one of 8 to remain open in the Plateau. The prospective opening of a direct marketing outlet for the Comté will create new jobs in the community.