MILK PRODUCERS AND GARDENERS FOR THE VALLEY
It all started more then a thousand years ago, when monks came to live on the floor of the cold, dark valleys. The monks cut down trees and cleared the undergrowth. Acre after acre, they opened up land, making precious space available for herds and people. 
To a certain extent, the farmers here in the early years of the third millennium are the successors of those early woodcutters.
In and around Samoëns, there are about thirty dairy farms that are specialized in the production of milk for reblochon cheese. Year in, year out, the Samoëns cooperative makes their three million litres into fruity reblochon cheese that benefits from an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC).
That is the main activity linked to the 500 or so dairy cows in the locality (Abondance and Montbéliard breeds).
On their walks and hikes, summer visitors are pleased to see the herds in the mountain pastures. The “potets” (bells) around the necks of the peaceful ruminants remind visitors how important mountain agriculture is to the valley's economic life. The slogan “No countryside without farmers” has never been so meaningful.
The inexorable drop in the numbers of farmers, modifications in farming methods and the pressure on all available land have a direct effect on the aspect of the landscape (limitation of 
cultivated land, increasing amounts of land left untilled, etc.). In this context, it becomes increasingly clear that the farmers of Samoëns can be seen as gardeners of the environment.
Their role involves the inevitable milking times, twice a day, collecting the milk, maturing the cheeses, haymaking, taking the herds up to the mountain pastures and bringing them down again in the autumn, cutting lumber, going to agricultural fairs and shows, etc.
All these activities can be seen as the seasons go by, and during visits to farms and farmhouse teas