The Advent of Cooperl. the Role of Cooperatives in the Modernisation of Pig Farming in Brittany (1940s-1970s)

This paper looks at the history of the modernisation of pig farming in Brittany between the 1940s and the 1970s through the prism of one cooperative in particular: the Coopérative des éleveurs de la région de Lamballe (Cooperl). In the first part, we look at the role of three local players (the JAC, the CETA and the feed merchants who travelled the countryside) in the early stages of the intensification of pig farming in the 1940s and 1950s, paving the way for cooperatives that emerged in the 1960s. The second and third parts look at the beginnings of Cooperl, between the 1960s and 1970s: its origins, its operations, its development, its relationship with farms, and its role in standardising technical procedures, farms and pigs.