Les éleveurs

The pigs that are destined for making Bayonne Ham are born and raised in the South West of France (22 départements) located in two administrative regions:

  • Nouvelle-Aquitaine
  • Occitanie.

This South West France area corresponds to the traditional procurement area for South-West pigs to make Bayonne Ham. Thus there are about 1,500 pig producers who qualify for the PGI intake policy for Bayonne Ham.

The PGI Bayonne Ham is based on the following livestock management:

  • the pigs add value to the cereal crops,
  • the pig manure is used to fertilise the crops.

Pig production for PGI Bayonne Ham uses the cereal crops grown on 100,000 hectares. About half the pig producers involved mix their own pigfeed from cereals grown on the same farm or neighbouring holdings.