"Agriculture is reaching out to you." The theme chosen for the 57th edition of the International Agricultural Show (SIA), which will take place from February 22 to March 1 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, sets the tone. That of a vast operation seducing young workers, at a time when the sector suffers - among other things - from a lack of manpower. The number of farmers in France - 448,500 in 2018 - has been falling steadily for forty years, and 70,000 jobs are currently unfilled in the sector.
To try to create vocations, this year again, they will be more than 1,000 exhibitors, coming from 24 different countries, to present their activity and their products, gathered on a surface of 140,000 square meters (20 football fields). .
An approach whose cost for the exhibiting farmer is often ignored by the general public. According to information from the weekly devoted to the economy and technologies in the industrial world, L'Usine Nouvelle, the price of the presence at the Agricultural Fair varies according to the number of square meters occupied. A stand of 10 square meters can be worth up to 10,000 euros, including the price of the site, registration fees, parking, electricity and water, and possibly furniture. A budget that favors larger farmers more than small farmers.
The challenge of the event? Show yourself to the general public, to the media, and meet potential customers, in France and abroad. A strategy that has a bright future ahead: a look back at five figures showing a constant enthusiasm for "the largest farm in France".
- From 620,000 to 650,000 visitors
This is the attendance expected this year. In 2019, the 56th edition of the International Agricultural Show attracted exactly 633,213 visitors, including 37,950 professional visitors.
The attendance record for the SIA was reached in 2014, with no less than 703,407 visitors. A figure unmatched since. However, each year, and for ten years, at least 600,000 people have passed through the doors of Paris Expo to meet French farmers, and elsewhere.
- 4,000 animals from nearly 400 different breeds
At the heart of the excitement, 4,000 animals will be presented to the public. Animals of various species (cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, donkeys, poultry, rabbits and even dogs and cats), of which nearly 400 breeds are represented.
Among them, 2,700 will participate in the general agricultural competition, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The animals admitted are judged on their morphology and their conformation to the standard of their breed, as part of a "demonstration of the excellence of French genetics", specifies the site of the Show.
- 40,000 to 50,000 liters of cow's milk
The nine days of the fair are by no means a vacation for animals. No question, during the event, of ceasing to exploit them. Evidenced by the milking parlor, qualified by the SIA as "essential". Here, 500 dairy cows, from 14 different breeds, have been dispatched to give their milk. Milk harvested on site, in proportions ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 liters over nine days (i.e. between 4,500 and 5,500 liters per day), by the Saint-Denis-de-Hôtel dairy (Orléans).
- 230 tonnes of straw and 100 tonnes of hay transported to Paris Expo
In the form of bales of around thirty kilos, straw and hay, originating in the south-east of France and the Jura, are transported daily to the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles by a specialized company from Val- de-Marne (Île-de-France), to recreate the "natural" environment of the animals presented.
- About 680 tonnes of manure
The straw used daily by the animals present at the show is removed by this same company and transformed into manure. This organic matter from animal excrement is then used as fertilizer for the agricultural sector. Among these 680 tonnes of manure thus produced at each edition of the show, 250 are reprocessed for the production of biogas.
With AFP
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