Paper short abstract:

This paper will focus on the modernisation of pig farming in the region of Brittany (West of France), which accounts today for nearly 60% of the French pig herd. It will stress the importance of pig cooperatives, feed merchants, and pig farmers' unions, between 1940s and 1990s.

Paper long abstract:

After the Second World War, the region of Brittany became the biggest pig production region of France, and accounts today for about 60% of the total French pig herd. This story can be told from various points of view : the state's, local authorities, but also scientific institutions dedicated to research on pigs, pig cooperatives, feed and counsel merchants, and the farmers themselves. By combining all these perspectives, the 1940s-1990s modernisation period divides into two : a first period of progressive intensification (1940s-1970s) characterised by DIY and fumbling, and a second period (1980s-1990s) characterised by a deeper integration of the farmers in an industrial production logic. This paper will show, thanks to both written documents and oral history interviews, the evolution and the differences between the two periods, by focusing more specifically on pig farm buildings, pig feed, and pig genetics. It will talk about the role of the French state in promoting a certain type of industrial pig production, but will stress out the capital role of pig cooperatives, feed merchants, and pig farmers' unions in the development of industrial pig farms in Brittany.