C2—Lancaster Famine, Saturday, Saptambar 6,1980
Veronica Chable is comfortable
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
Veronique Chable is a French agricultural student who
is spending a month on a southern Lancaster County dairy
farm. She has found few surprises after all, her father
drives the same kind of tractor as her host family and
there are the same kind of milking machines to be found
on French dairy farms.
Nevertheless, she is finding the experience valuable,
saying, “It is good to see this country. In France we
imagine what it is like, and it is interesting to see for
myself.”
Twenty-one-year-old Veronique is staying in the home
of Bill and Evelyn Suydam, R 1 Quarryville, and their
three children, Isaac, 4%, Leona, 3, and Clayton, 1. She
works along with them on their farm, but they have taken
her to neighboring farms and plan to show her more while
she is here. Evelyn said, “She knows the basics, but we
want to take her to different farms and give her a view of
pa many different kinds of agriculture as we can.”
Veronique is at home in the Maine region of France
which is south of Normandy. Her father farms ap
proximately 185 acres of wheat, corn and rape. The family
feeds about 20 steers on some land that they cannot
cultivate, and her mother raises rabbits which are
marketed for meat. Her mother has 100 female rabbits,
and a buyer visits the farm every two weeks, Veronique
said.
la the region where she lives, Veronique relates that it is
nanmnii for fanners to rent land, and rented farms are
gonoraiiy larger than forms which are owned. She said
that farms are rented from aristocratic families who
have large land holdings, and the right to farm is inherited
by the son in the family much as ownership would be. If a
farmer should not have an heir, he can designate the
person whom he would like to have follow in his footsteps -
a nephew, perhaps or some other relative. In the case of
the Cbable family, Veronique’s 19-year-old brother will
inherit the right to farm. Her father had inherited his right
from his father.
Veronique explained that farm rental is long-term, with
an 18-year lease and an almost guaranteed right to renew.
She said further that it would be very difficult for her
father to rent additional acreage because, according to
law, preference is given to a person who is not m fanning.
This policy is in line with the government’s wish to keep
small farms operating. Veronique said the disappearance
of -small, traditional farms is a problem in France, but
that the government has taken steps to keep more from
disappearing. She echoed words heard frequently in this
country with regard to farming operations. “It is not
possible to live on small farms; they must get bigger and
bigger. To get money for farming from a bank, you must
have a diploma in agriculture. It is more and more dif
ficult.”
The government’s policy on land use, Veronique said,
was developed within the last few years. She states,
“There is not much land in France.” In fact, France is
about five times the size of Pennsylvania, according to
some hasty research done by the Suydams, and its
population is more than 50 million.
Veronique explained that her father markets his com
directly from the field because he would need a dryer if he
were to store it and that would be very expensive. Wheat,
on the other hand, is stored and marketed through April or
May. She said farmers use both cooperatives and private
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•rieuffunl student
Veronique Chable, left,
and her host Evelyn
Suydam look over some
Dairy Herd Improvement
records. Veronique is
visiting from France in an
effort to learn more
about agriculture in
Pennsylvania, and will
stay on the Suydam’s
dairy farm for one month.
merchants, and prices are dependent upon the European
Economic Community.
While Veronique has not yet decided what kind of job
she wants to have when she graduates, she says that she
will be able to choose from any number of jobs because
she will have a degree in agricultural engineering.
Eventually, she says, “I should like to have a farm.” In
the meantime she will work for another farmer or in an
ag-related industry. “We can do many things with our
diploma,” she states. “We can do every job in
agriculture.”
She is attending a “Grand Ecole” for which she needed
to take a competitive exam which included such subjects
as math, biology, physics and other science. There are 400
positions in the several “Grand Ecole” throughout
France, and entrance is given according to top scores.
While job hunting was easier about four or five years
ago, Veronique said graduates from her school do not
have difficulty getting jobs because the school’s
reputation is so good. She said it is not like attending a
university where any student can be admitted.
Being a woman in agricultural schools is not difficult for
Veronique, but she said the female students were ad-
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Veronique’s favorite
job on the farm is feeding
the calves in their
hutches. She says raising
calves in hutches is one
new idea she will take
with her when she
returns, in other
respects, dairy farms in
France do not differ
much from American
dairy farms.
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Veronique has learned since her arrival two weeks
ago. Although she had never milked a cow, she
now helps regularly with milking chores.
mitted just 10 years ago, and then only one or two. Slowly
more girls became students there, and today there are 30
women studying agriculture. “Every year there are more
and more,” she says.
Just as in this country, Veromque states, “More and
more women work outside the home in France.” She is
looking forward to a career, but she adds, “I should like to
live chi a farm because then I can work and have
children.”
Although she has never lived on a dairy farm,
Veronique proudly says, “Now I know how to milk cows.”
She works along with the Suydams whenever possible,
although August is a time when little field work is being
done. One of her favorite jobs, she admits, is feeding the
calves in their hutches. This is one new idea she will take
back to France with her.
Dairy farms here are very similar to dairy operations in
France, although Veronique says only very large farms
have silos because they are so expensive.
Veronique said, “I am not surprised to see that all is
bigger here. That I knew. It is very easy to adapt to life .
here.” Evelyn adds, “She has accepted our way very^
welL”
Veronique feels that the way of living is much the same
in the two countries, especially on the farm, but was
surprise , 'bout the importance of a car to American
(Turn to Page C 4)
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