VIDEO – “It’s the only animal capable of doing this job”: when pigs replace pesticides

No more humming of the tractor. It has been replaced by the growl of the pig. Arrived in the Marne vineyards a fortnight ago, the New Zealand dwarf pigs are very efficient. “It is the only animal we know today that is capable of doing this work, which turns the earth and turns the root”says Olivier Zébic, agricultural and wine consultant at the Champagne Bonnaire estate.

They are very successful. Oenology students made the special trip to observe them. These pigs are herbivorous, have no muscle in their necks and do not raise their heads. Thus, they only eat the weeds and do not attack the buds. This ecological approach makes it possible to avoid the use of pesticides as well as the compaction of the soil caused by tractors.