France’s SPACE Exposition offers a unique platform for livestock farmers to convene and showcase innovative products in their industry. This year the Expo was held from 13-15 September in Rennes, France. The event engages participants from across the world and discusses challenges of livestock farmers, by bringing together all the different animal production sectors in a forward-looking approach. This is thanks to state-of-the-art developments and innovations presented by the exhibitors, show visitors what the livestock industry is about. It’s an industry that undergoes continual shifts as it pays close attention to citizens and consumers, one that does what it takes to meet societal demands both in terms of rearing practices and their impact on global climate.
SPACE is therefore an Expo firmly focused on the future that is currently taking shape. In that mindset, its organisers aim to further solidify that dynamic by giving voice to the youth enrolled in agricultural training programmes. Nearly 1,200 exhibitors registered to participate in the event, of which 185 are new and 318 are from countries outside France.
This year, there were various segments in different halls such as poultry farming animal nutrition, energies sector, the Agretic and Village by CA start-up areas covered 100m2 each. Businesses from the pig and cattle sectors also registered in high numbers and nearly 200 stands displayed equipment in the outdoor area.
The Innov’Space competition is what makes SPACE the leading event for innovation across all the livestock sectors. For over the past 25 years, these awards have been a real quality seal for the industry. They demonstrate the extent to which the sectors are efficient, innovative and always thinking ahead.
One of the nights during the Expo was dedicated to the Innov’Space Awards which saw about 36 winners being awarded. This demonstrates the dynamism of the livestock sector regarding novelty and innovation. During the awards ceremony, the special mentions have been revealed. They are attributed by the jury to products worthy of distinction due to their high level of originality or innovation. This year, two award-winners proudly to display their 3 stars trophy on their booths.
One of the award recipients is ASSERVA, which was rewarded for its automatic feeding station for fattening pigs SELFIFEEDER GFI. The animal is weighed and then fed according to its weight with a choice of 2 different feeds, which allows also customised feed quantity. The station is equipped with a paint marker: at the end of the fattening time, the scale can be used to paint the pigs with the good weight selected for slaughter house. Moreover, the Selfifeeder GFI provides an analysis of the feeding behaviour by identifying the number, feed time and hours of the animal’s visits as well as the quantity of feed distributed per visit and the speed of feed consumption.
The other awardee is MSD SANTE ANIMALE, which convinced the Jury with the IDAL 3G Holder. The IDAL 3G Holder enables to fix and use the intradermal vaccination devices, IDAL 3GM and 3GT, at man’s height while guaranteeing initial security of the trigger. The advantages of this new Porte IDAL 3G are multiple. It optimises manpower during vaccination and enables a better tasks management. Moreover, farmer welfare is also improved as he is no more holding the weight of the IDAL and vaccines. He can really concentrate on vaccination. For the animals, the injection quality is optimal because the piglet is always vaccinated with IDAL in the same way. Regarding security, the very low risk of accidental injection is maintained with the Porte IDAL 3G thanks to the trigger’s activation system.
According to SPACE, The Espace for the Future, located in hall 4, is the area where SPACE, thanks to the expertise of the Chambers of Agriculture and Technical Institutes, offers avenues of reflecton and practical solutions for livestock farmers to address changes in livestock farming. This year, it focused on “Livestock breeding and climate: reducing the impact”. Presentations of technical solutions, daily round tables, breeder testimonials and on-farm videos informed SPACE Expo goers and help them develop ideas on these topics.
Interestingly, SPACE now continually offers information and services all year long without having to dedicate a specific day to them. These tools offer extensive content and features: a platform for scheduling BtoB meetings, a marketplace, webinars, podcasts, web TV programmes, the Innov’Space prize-winner list, product descriptions, an interactive map, the conference schedule and animal presentations, etc.The web portal digital.space.fr and the mobile application app.space.fr are now available to help users prepare their visits to the Expo. These interfaces will be further enhanced with new features to make them even more easy to use.