You can mail me at bc@grasspunk.com.
We’re an American family with Antipodean connections running a beef farm in South-West France. Our farm is in old Gascony in a sleepy departement called le Gers. There’s no autoroute out here, let alone a TGV line. What we do have is a lot of sun and some excellent soil, made from the limestone of an ancient sea. Occasionally it snows.
The farm is run using a mix of old school methods and new ideas. Sometimes the neighbors think we’re nuts and other times they reminisce that when they were kids they used to sleep out with the herd.
We make beef for the flavor – grass-fed and grass-finished. We raise Salers, rustic, old-school mountain cows that love our rich Gascon pastures.
Jean, the Agricultrix.
Me, covered in chopped hay.
You can mail me at bc@grasspunk.com.
grasspunk.com 
What a wonderful adventure you are on. We are building a strawbale house in Alberta and we are going for the little french farmhouse look. Not done yet. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos and projects! Cheers and good luck.
Hey John – nice to run into you here!
As somebody who’s considered doing what you’re doing, I’m keen to learn of your adventures.
Gosh, your comments make me realize how out of date my About page is!
John, I’ve been reading your site and I’m particularly interested in your advice on old tractors.
Kevin, if there’s anything you are interested in I’ll be happy to share what I know.
Love your site. My uncle is in the process of converting our family’s dairy farm into grass fed beef (in VT). Better money for a lot less work.
Have you written up any lessons I can share with him (and perhaps on RC.com?).
Thanks JR
John, I’ve been thinking about your question. I’m no expert, but I can come up with a list of pointers to true experts on the topic. These you can share and put on the site if it meets your quality bar. I’ll likely need a couple of days.
Hi Brent,
I’ve been enjoying your photos and prose for a while now. Nice and laid back – and consistent. I’d like to syndicate your blog on my agri-friendly site – http://www.aquitaineinvest.co.uk. Lots of would-be farmers have projects in their heads – they just need a bit of encouragement!! Can we discuss ?
Nigel
nigeldturner@gmail.com
Hello Nigel, It doesn’t sound like something I am interested in, although I could be misunderstanding things. I am at bc@grasspunk.com if you want to send email. Cheers, Brent.
Great blog, South- West France reminds me a little bit of Iowa where my farm is.
Man, I miss you guys, but it’s great to see how well you’re all doing.
Hey Brendan, drop by whenever you feel like taking the bull by the horns.
I’m SO ecstatic to have come across your site! I am an American living in Grenoble (with antipoedan roots too actually) and I often have trouble figuring out which cuts of meat are what and yours is the first good explanation I’ve ever found. Yay and thanks!! Now I just wish we lived closer so we could buy your beef!
Hello Nancy! Thanks for commenting. We sometimes ship beef around France – it is a rare event but when people are very keen we put in the effort. If you ever make it to the South-West do pop on by and see the cow herd. Cheers, Brent.
Hi Brent,
What do you pay for in calf heifers of commercial salers,Gascon,Charolais or limousins?
Thanks
Paddy
Hello Paddy. I haven’t bought in-calf heifers for four years but back then they were 1300 for Salers. They’re more expensive now. Here’s one place to find ads: http://www.agriaffaires.com/occasion/1/animaux.html
Sadly, I live in Burgundy, not the Gers, so I can’t benefit from your grass-fed beef until you start posting it out! But I’m very glad to know that you exist. Keep up the good work. (Of course, Burgundy has lots of Charolais munching away in local fields.)
You did what! How are you old boy
Oh gosh it’s the 10y anniversary of the farm. I forgot. Things are great, the kids are growing, the grass is getting richer, we’re expanding the cow herd. And how are things with you?
Hi, we live about 30 mins. north of Bergerac, how far are you from there? Also can you tell me how your beef differs from French beef which we find pretty touch coming also from the US. I thought one of the big differences was in the US they finished the beef off with oats and grains to marble the meat. I find the beef here to have very little marbling and when I do buy it for a roast or even steaks I buy the equivalent to the US Prime Rib cuts so that I get tender meat.
Thanks, from a fellow USer.
Hello Karen. The biggest differences are the breed and the age of the cows at slaughter. Both places use cereals to finish beef with a tiny set of people doing 100% pasture. In the US farmers use a variety of breeds but lots of Angus, Hereford and other breeds with predominantly British genetics. In France they use mostly Charolais, Limousin and Blonde d’Aquitaine which do not marble as much or have as much subcutaneous fat and have worse tenderness scores (Angus scores the best). As for age in the USA beef is generally 18-30 months of age with most of it at the younger end of that range. In France they slaughter mostly retired cows and they prefer ages 4y-10y, ages that in the USA would all be ground beef rather than cut into steaks.
Also we are just south of Condom in the Gers and Google Maps tells me Bergerac is 2h17m away. You can type “Grasspunk” into Google Maps to find us or use this link: https://goo.gl/maps/bVQDSzMdWnUTomEKA