Over the course of several recent months, Reuters photographer Stéphane Mahé visited and photographed a farmer named Jean-Bernard Huon on his farm in western France. Huon, now 70, grew up here, and deliberately lives a traditional, non-mechanized farm life, favoring ox teams over tractors. From a Reuters article: “When farm machinery revolutionized French agriculture in the years after World War II, a young Jean-Bernard Huon turned his back on the new technology. Half a century later, in a corner of southern Brittany on France’s west coast, Huon still uses oxen to plow his fields, determined to preserve an ancestral, peasant way of life.”
A Quiet, Ancestral Farm Life in Western France
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Read moreFrench farmer Jean-Bernard Huon, 70, carries hay at his farm in Riec-sur-Belon, France, on January 27, 2018. Huon's manual approach to subsistence farming makes him a rarity in the European Union's biggest agricultural economy. He shuns France's hypermarkets, instead selling his pork, veal, and butter to those who visit his ramshackle farm. #
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Read moreFrench farmer Jean-Bernard Huon plows his land with oxen near his farm in Riec-sur-Belon, France, on October 25, 2017. In the last decade, he's made some concessions to comfort. He switched from work horses to oxen, which are more docile. More recently, as age imposes its own limits on his activities, he invested in two tractors for the heavy-lifting of hay. #
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Read moreLaurence, Jean-Bernard Huon's companion, works on land near their farm on October 25, 2017. #
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Read moreHuon and his companion, Laurence, have lunch at their farm on October 5, 2017. #
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Read moreItems are displayed on a windowsill at Huon's farm on October 5, 2017. #
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Read moreLaurence prepares butter at their farm on October 25, 2017. #
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Read moreHuon writes notes at a table on his farm on February 1, 2018. #
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Read moreAn old yoke hangs above a mantel on Huon's farm on October 25, 2017. #
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Read moreJean-Bernard Huon holds an old family photograph on October 5, 2017. #
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Read moreA dark sky hangs over a field near Huon's farm in Riec-sur-Belon, France, on December 14, 2017. #
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Read moreHuon at work on February 1, 2018. On the small farm where he grew up, the garrulous 70-year-old and his partner Laurence milk eight cows by hand, grind flour manually, and tirelessly collect manure to fertilize the crops that feed his livestock. #
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Read moreHuon inspects a barrel used for cider on October 24, 2017. #
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Read moreGeese walk by as Huon's partner, Laurence, works on October 24, 2017. #
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Read moreFarming equipment lies on the ground near the farm on October 25, 2017. #
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Read moreHuon and his friend Jeremy harvest beets on land near his farm on October 24, 2017. #
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Read moreLaurence unloads manure on land near their farm on October 25, 2017. #
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Read moreJean-Bernard Huon walks with his oxen on his land near his farm on October 4, 2017. #
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Read moreHuon toasts with visiting bikers during an annual biker rally at his farm in Riec-sur-Belon on January 27, 2018. #
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Read moreHuon reads a book in his room on February 1, 2018. #
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Read moreLight shines through a window of French farmer Jean-Bernard Huon's farmhouse in Riec-sur-Belon, France, on December 14, 2017. #
Stephane Mahe / Reuters
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