The Petit Rollet site located in central France is home to a 400-head capacity feedlot which, when operated on a six-month rolling system, puts 800 cattle through its gates each year.

The cattle purchased are all purebred Charolais bulls, bought from local farmers in the region and sold to the local processor. Average slaughter age is just under 17 months and 90% of carcases would be hanging up between 420kg and 480kg.

This feedlot is just one piece of the large Petit Rollet jigsaw. Also on the facility is four poultry units, a duck fattening unit, 95ha of tillage and a large anaerobic digester.

The digester runs in sync with the intensive operation, taking waste off the farm and from local food manufacturers to produce biogas which can subsequently be used to make electricity and heat.

For more, watch the video below and see this Thursday’s Irish Farmers Journal in print and online for a full breakdown of operations at Petit Rollet.