With all the problems facing agriculture in France today, young people could be tempted to abandon this profession, although it is essential. Passionate through and through, some cannot imagine a career anywhere other than in this field. This is the case of Louis Levrauxyoung agricultural employee from 21 years old, from Auchy-la-Montagne (Oise)a small town of less than 600 inhabitants located near Beauvais.
Louis is one of those who lives for agriculture, and has done so since his early childhood. “I studied agricultural mechanics at the Pierre Mendes-France high school in Péronne (Sum), a professional baccalaureate and a CAP, explains the young man. My father wanted me to continue with a BTS but I stopped after a year, I wanted to get closer to the farm.” Louis then began a BTS APV (Crop production agronomy) to study soil agronomy. From now on, he is an agricultural employee on the family farm, with his uncle and a partner.
More than 13,500 subscribers on TikTok
Louis’ daily life today is punctuated by his job. But Louis is also part of generation Z. The one who exposes himself a lot on social networks. He chose to mix his passion with that. Almost every day, he makes a video about his work. On TikTok, more than 13,500 people follow his adventures. “I started in 2020he remembers. I was watching videos on YouTube from David Forge, Thierry africain d’avenir, or Marc A2C, I said to myself why not me. Although at first I was reluctant. But a friend from high school told me to try. I never thought it would come to this, and the community continues to grow.”
Daily, Louis interacts with his “followers”: either by filming a video showing what he did during the day, or a video to respond to people who wonder about his way of doing things, or by offering a “live », that is to say talking live with his subscribers (or not for that matter) while he works or plays his favorite computer game (Farming Simulator, an agricultural simulation game obviously). Some of his videos have exceeded 30,000 views. “Initially it was a lot of people my age watching, so 16-17 years old at the timenotes the young man. Then older people started following me.»
He films and shares his daily life on the farm
His videos began to rank well in the social network’s algorithm at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023.A video on how the fertilizer works worked well, then another on the presentation of the farm, he explains. I reached 10,000 subscribers in February 2023.» Because the goal is there, to share your daily life with those who are interested in the agricultural world. Rather educational for his age, Louis does not hesitate to explain his actions, particularly when he plows, when he sows, or when he harvests. “I gain knowledge by talking with other people, but my two elders still teach me a lothe smiles. Their methods sometimes work better.”
His two “old”, as he says, will soon retire. Louis will then find himself at the head of a beautiful cereal farm. With two friends, he also wants to create an ETA (agricultural work company). But that doesn’t mean he will stop his videos, which take him about thirty minutes a day between filming and editing. The young farmer also wants to develop his content on YouTube, to produce slightly longer formats, more suited to this platform.
Soon a video on the demonstrations
In the coming days, Louis, known on TikTok under the pseudonym Louagri Picardie, will make a video on the latest demonstrations. Member of the board of directors of the Young Farmers of Oise for a year, he was not able to go there, being in the fields. “There is still a lot to changehe whispers. Mercosur, I hope it will not be signed. But why do tractors cost twice as much as before? Why in retirement will we only earn a quarter of what we contributed to the MSA? Why do we continue to sell wheat for €200 per tonne when everything is expensive?»
In the near future, Louis dreams of going on a farm tour of France to continue learning the techniques developed in other regions. And why not make videos of it?
