With a little bit more than 3000 farms, the Alpes de Haute-Provence remained a truly rural department. And the actual farmers, quite numerous (4000 full-time farmers within the 10000), are-like the preceding generations-deeply in love with this unique land where wheat and olives grow, where cows, goats and sheeps graze.
Created in 1983, the ONIPPAM (National Office of Perfume, Aromatic and Medicinal Plants) is the only ‘office by product’ –like meat and cereals- which headquarters are not in the capital, but in a beautiful Provencal bastide in Volx. Its vocation is to regulate the market of aromatic, perfume and medicinal plants and also promote them.
Website : ONIPPAM
In Haute-Provence, theMistral ripple wheat fields. First agricultural wealth of the department, durum wheat represent almost ¾ of the cultures – approximately 18000ha- and remains the most important culture in our department. The ‘basses vallées de la Durance’’ are the main cultivation zones , the Bléone, the Asse, Plateaux de Valensole and Puymichel as well asthe surroundings of Forcalquier. Nowadays, after 50 years of agriculture dedicated to mass productivity, farmers are heading towards sustained agriculture, worried about the quality and the traceability of their products. Other important cultures appeared : field peas, sunflowers, rapeseed, sorghum and corn. They are linked to the extension of irrigation created by the dam of Serre-Ponçon in 1960. Simultaneously, farms are getting bigger and bigger with an average 100ha farm nearbyManosque. But the Provencal durum wheat is remarkable, particularly tasty. Panzani and Croix-de-Savoie know about it and buy most of the production.
Emblematic animal of the Haute-Provence, the sheep remains one of the main productions of our department. And if we don’t see him often on the side of the road, it’s because he is in the pastures or on an isolated peak. Because here, sheeps graze in open air and the transhumance remains a tradition. Each year 130.000 sheeps from the low-country come in our department for the summer. This tradition allows to maintain a rich biodiversity and to prevent erosion and bushland expansion. Few in numbers back in the day (40 to 100 sheeps), the pasture herds are much larger now, especially the race of the ‘’Southern Prealps’’. For the ‘’native herds’’, they’re estimated about 215.000 heads, 90% of them living in the mountains. The PACA region is the 3rd sheep-producing region in France. 8000 persons work in this branch and people eat twice the quantity of lamb eaten in the rest of the country. Sisteron’s abbatoir is the most important in France in terms of quantity (600.000 heads per year) and equipment (ISO 200 standard). A few milk ewes also appeared recently. As for the goats, they’re around 8000 and cows around 10.000. In the Alpes de Haute-Provence, 1 out of 3 farmers is a breeder.
Our department only has a couple of large culture zones, so it’s easier for us to cultivate the land in a biologic way. Itstrongly developed in the last couple of years, particularly regarding vegetables anduncommon productions like small pelt. Products of this agriculture can be spotted thanks to the AB logo. In order to obtain this appellation, they have to be grown with no chemical or synthetic products, with biological control agents. When they’re transformed, the inputs (additives, preservatives) have to be used in limited quantity.
Protected by itschestnut-tree leaves, the Banon, famous goat cheese of the Alpes de Haute-Provence, obtained the AOC label in 2003, the first AOC for a cheese in the PACA region. Even though the production is small – approximately 68 tons/year -, its extraordinary taste, inherited from a long Antic meridional tradition, makes it a unique cheese to be enjoyed with a dry white wine from Pierrevert.
Website : AOC Banon
If the ‘’César’’ Red Label was created in 1995, the Geographic Protected Indication (IGP) ‘’Sisteron’s Lamb’’ was only created on the 15th February 2007. This label implies a particular way of production. Lambs come from three rustic races exclusively from PACA, they must have been fed at least 60 days with mother’s milk and being between 90 and 160 days-old when slaughtered. After the slaughtering, the quality of the meat is controlled and an average 1 lamb out of 2 gets the IGP.
Website : Sisteron’s Lamb
Many perfume plants are cultivated in the Alpes de Haute-Provence (lavender, clary sage, hyssop…). They represent 51% of the national superficy of lavendin cultivation (1st department in terms of production) and 30% of lavender. It’s the fine lavender (lavandula angustifoglia), smaller than the lavandin but with an unequaled perfume, which has been granted the AOC label.
Website : : Haute-Provence lavender (Chamber of Agriculture)
The Valley of the Durance, with its extraordinary sunlight, its lime-clay soil and important temperature variations between day and night, allows the production of tasty fruits with an extraordinary texture and a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Thus, the Golden Apple Red Label (the only Golden with a label in France) and the IGP (Geographic Controlled Indication) Alpes de Haute-Durance were created in 1996.
Website : The Alps Apple (Chamber of Agriculture)
Haute-Provence’s oil, mainly made with trees of the Aglandau, which is particularly green and fruity, more than the one of Basse-Provence. It obtained the AOC in 1999. It’s the 3rd olive-oil to obtain this label after those of Nyons and les Baux.
Going to the market one morning, when the sun isn’t burning yet, is a timeless pleasure. All the towns and villages of Haute-Provence have at least one weekly market. You will find all the products of our land in a convivial and colored ambiance.
The Maisons de Pays gather more than 150 producers who propose their products. Authentic products grown in the Alpes de Haute-Provence, testifying of the skills of our farmers-craftsmen. Grown in the utmost respect of traditions, you will certainly be seduced.
Producers, real professionals whose technics of productions are a mix of traditions and modern technologies. Farms or craft shops are found at the heart of this territory which is at the beginning of the Alps, but still belongs to Provence.
The Chamber of Agriculture organises each summer direct sales on the markets of Haute-Provence, but you can also buy products directly at the farm.
The Chamber of Agriculture releases each year a guide with the full list of these summer operations, as well as a farmer’s guide.
A stay in a Gîte de France, here's a gift idea which is quite uncommon and that will certainly make the beneficiary more than happy !
Haute Provence Luberon
We've gathered for you all the housings labelled Gîtes de France for less than 3 months. A good occasion to discover some new adresses of the Gîtes de France in the Alpes de Haute-Provence, whatever the type of accomodation your looking for : gîte, bed and breakfast, group gîte, city break ...
Jean & Monique COLLOMP
Jean & Monique are retired and manage their gîtes.
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