Want to farm? Take over this French holding

A British couple say France gave them the opportunity to farm – now they hope it could give someone else the chance too.

After making the country their home for the past 25 years, Tim and Mary Beedell are nearing retirement and keen to find a young couple to take over the holding and experience la joie de vivre.

Their 263ha beef and cereals farm, Le Moulin Mou, lies near Argenton Sur Creuse, between Limoges and Chateauroux in the Indre department in central France.

It will be available to rent and buy in part from 2018, with its machinery, 300-head Limousin cattle and B&B business for sale. The couple will stay in a nearby cottage and be available to help with the transition.

See more: British couples farming in France – how the pioneers faired 

Being younger than 40 years would class the incoming tenants as young farmers, giving them access to French government support through cheap bank loans and grants.

“Even £200,000 of capital from the sale of a small farm or house would give you a real opportunity to farm in France,” says Mr Beedell.

“We couldn’t have farmed in the UK as we have here. No one would have taken a risk on someone without experience, but we have been welcomed in France.

“They really recognise that farmers work hard. A lot of people remember a grandparent or great-grandparent who farmed.”

Mrs Beedell adds: “French people really like farmers and they want them to succeed. The agricultural community has been very helpful and supportive to us.”

The farm

The Beedells own about 42ha of the holding, while the rest is rented from four French landlords, who have agreed they would like the land to continue to be rented collectively.

The incoming tenants would take over the Beedells’ existing tenancy agreements and either buy or rent their 42ha of owned land. A farmworker is employed three days a week and it is hoped would continue with the business.

The biggest tenancy – covering 80ha – the farmhouse and buildings are on an 18-year rolling agreement, while the others range from nine- to 25-year agreements. Land owned by the Beedells would be available on a 25-year basis.

Rents range from €100-€150/ha (£75-£110/ha), but farming tenancies in France are tightly controlled by each department, which sets a minimum and maximum range.

CAP payments always go to the person actively farming the land, not the landlord.

Most of the farm lies in the Bouzanne Valley and its soil varies from clay/brash to deep river valley silty loams, with a ph of 6.5 or more.

Since 2014 all the land has been direct drilled with a rotation of OSR-wheat-barley-beans. All except the beans are planted into a permanent cover crop of lucerne or white clover.

The farm is self-sufficient in forage and cereal feed for its cattle, the majority of which are sold through a local co-op, although there are two cattle markets within an hour’s drive.

Male calves are sold at 350-400kg for about €1,000/head (£750), while heifers enter the herd or are fattened. About one heifer a month is sold in a meat box to a base of 200 customers in the area, adding €400 (£300) of value to each cow.

The live- and deadstock and a wide range of machinery, including a New Holland TM 140 tractor, JCB 526 with fork and bucket, John Deere mower, Bateman sprayer and John Deere direct drill are available for about €450,000 (£340,000) and the couple are looking for €200,000 (£150,000) to buy them out of the business.

Buildings include a farmhouse, three large livestock sheds capable of housing 250-300 cattle, bale storage for 1,500 round bales, silos and a covered muckstore.

Development potential

The farm business has an additional income stream from a small B&B business, which could be expanded by converting the outbuildings.

“We are bang in the middle of France, so it’s a very good position for people travelling down to the Dordogne,” says Mrs Beedell. “The sky’s the limit if you really wanted to develop it.”

Mr Beedell also says someone keen to produce lamb would do well and one of the outbuildings could be converted into a cutting room to expand the meat box enterprise.

Taking the leap

“I first came to France on a Farmers Weekly study tour in October 1989,” says Mr Beedell. “We moved out here by October 1990 with three kids all younger than five years.”

Neither of them spoke good French, but they found the local people welcoming and integrated quickly. “[Our children] have had a whale of a time,” says Mrs Beedell.

“Come and have a look, because there are loads of opportunities for a young person, especially with limited capital,” adds Mr Beedell.

Call Mr and Mrs Beedell on +33 254 244 717 or email fbeedell@club-internet.fr.