Sommet de l'Elevage: The key event for livestock professionals

1,200 exhibitors, 1,900 animals and 76,000 visitors are expected in Clermont-Ferrand (France) next 6, 7 and 8 October, when the 19^th Sommet de l'Elevage opens its doors to French and international livestock professionals, offering an unparalleled program of livestock showings, business forums and conferences, all with the show's trademark public-friendly atmosphere.

Bolstered by the success of the National Salers competition in 2009, this time the Charolais breed will take centerstage at the prestigious Zénith d'Auvergne events venue, which will play host to the National Charolais Show at the 2010 SOMMET. Over 500 Charolais cattle will make the journey for a 3-day programme of Charolais showings and promotional events. The European federation of Charolais breeders associations will be using the event as platform for its annual technical conference

The Sheep exhibition area, which until now was hosted in the dairy cattle hall, is trading up. This year, it will boast an exclusive new festival tent, neighbouring the farm machinery area, plus an outside arena for breed showings and new event activities (sheepdogs, electronic ID tags, wool competition, and more). A total showspace of 2,000 m² set aside for the 26 sheep breeds on show (grazing breeds: Charollais, Texel, Suffolk, Ile-de-France, Hampshire... and hardy breeds: Blanche Du Massif Central, Rava, Grivette, Limousine, Bizet, Noire du Velay, and more), i.e. over 300 sheep in all.

The Ile-de-France and RAVA breeds will be hosting their national competition.

Sustainable development is booming, and renewable energy continues to prove a fast-growth segment. Consequently, this year, a full 1,200 m² will be dedicated to exhibitors showcasing ecologically-friendly, economically-sound farm solutions.

Angus, Hereford, Galloway... the Brits are sending their cattle breeds across the Channel for their first showing at the SOMMET DE L'ELEVAGE, which continues to confirm its position as the leading beef cattle breeds event in Europe.

Year-in year-out, the Sommet de l'Elevage continues to cement its place as the must-attend forum for livestock breeders, not just from Europe but also South America, Asia and Africa. In 2010, 380 international exhibitors and 2,500 international visitors from 60-odd countries are expected to be in attendance.

The international arena, set up at the entrance to the show and run by the ADEPTA, offers VIP hosting and business club services specifically for our foreign attendees. A team of professionals is on hand to offer guidance as they tour the show, help organize business meetings with exhibitors, or showcase the French offer husbandry, skills and genetics offer.

One newly-welcomed member of the International Club is Auvergne International, an association federating institutional organizations and regional agents for international expansion, who will provide Auvergne-based farm and agrifoods businesses with help and support on export issues.

 Other standouts include:

- Close to twenty tours to farms and agribusiness technical centres (a slaughterhouse, an artificial insemination centre, a cheese dairy, and more) earmarked for international visitors;

- A number of presentations on French genetic material (both cattle and sheep breeds) delivered in several key languages for international visitors attending beef cattle, dairy cattle and sheep hall rings;

- The second edition of the French-African open-floor forum hosted by the AFDI (French Farmers for International Development). Against a backdrop marked by globalized farmland trade, this years core topic will be the risks posed by agricultural land sell-offs on the food self-sufficiency of African nations. The conference will be chaired by M. Luc GUYAU, President of the Executive Board of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

- As part of the France-Russia Year celebrations, the 2010 SOMMET event is proud to play host to several delegations of senior Russian officials and prominent Russian business figures

As a unique showcase for French animal farming, the SOMMET DE L'ELEVAGE will host close to 1,900 animals over the 3 days of best-of-breed competitions and animal shows, enrolling 22 cattle breeds, 26 sheep breeds and 16 horse breeds.

Hall 3 is devoted entirely to beef cattle breeds, and will draw in the very best genetic purebreds representing French and European beef cattle breeds. Agenda:

- Best-of-breed Competitions for the Limousine, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Salers, Aubrac and Gasconne breeds

- Showings of the Maine Anjou, Parthenaise, Bazadaise, Ferrandaise, Belgian Blue, Hereford, Angus and Galloway breeds

The SOMMET DE L'ELEVAGE will be hosting the great inter-regional Holstein best-of-breed competition, drawing in 150 animals from across the whole of the south of France.

The Sommet will also be organizing:

- Competitions for the Montbéliarde, Brown Swiss, Simmental, Normande, Tarentaise and Abondance breeds

- Showings of the Pie Rouge des Plaines and Jersey breeds

- Two cattle auctions: Holstein on Thursday 7 and Brown Swiss on Friday 8 October

Every year, the SOMMET hosts the largest national gathering of draught horses, with a total of 300 horses from 9 French draught breeds. Percheron, Ardennais, Comtois and Breton will all be competing in best-of-breed competitions over the 3 days of the show.

Around thirty or so saddle horses will also be on show.

The programme for the horse arena will again be including harness competitions and shows of draught horses at work.

Over the three days of the show, the SOMMET DE L'ELEVAGE will see a busy succession of visits by political personalities, seminars, conferences and events.

Agenda for 2010:

- INRA (National Institute for Agronomics Research) conference under the banner "Pain and wellbeing in farm animals"

- AFDI conference discussing "The risks posed by agricultural land sell-offs on the food self-sufficiency of African nations"

- Conferences chaired by the French National Livestock Institute  on "Health and hygiene practices in beef cattle systems", "Electronic ID tagging for cattle: a new tool facilitating livestock farm work", "Production costs on beef cattle farms"

Plus many other seminars pencilled in by the Interbev (French inter-trade livestock and meat association), the CNIEL (French National Inter-Trade Hub for the Dairy Industry), the SIMV (Veterinary Drugs Industry Union), and more.

VetAgro Sup (agronomics and veterinary engineering school) and the APECITA (Association for executive positions in the farming sector) will be manning an engineer-level recruitments stand for businesses in the farming, agrifoods, farm supplies and environmental management sectors. The SOMMET is also set to host a jobs exchange plus a job dating/traineeship dating forum.

The "Sommets d'Or" competition (competition for the best technical innovations, reserved exclusively for exhibitors), the "Trophée des Massifs" (animal showing competition with school-age judges), the "Fermiers d'Or" competition (food products) and the "Sabots d'Or" competition round off the professional events programme

The aim of this project is to scale the highest peak in each of the 27 EU member countries while conducting a study on changing patterns in farm diversification in European highland areas. Three expeditions have already been completed, and the farmers contacted in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands will be invited to discover the Auvergne, its farming systems and economic activity centres through the next Sommet de l'élevage.

The goal is to connect farming and tourism operators from the Massif Central region with their highland-area counterparts across the rest of Europe, in order to create a solid network of sustainable dialogue and exchange between EU citizens.

 

For the second year running, the Sommet de l'Elevage has entrusted Clermont-Ferrand's mythical Coopérative de Mai concert venue with organizing the music night wind-down Aftercow, on Thursday 7 October, from 7 pm to midnight (Hall 3, beef cattle ring).