Auvergne: a land of innovation

• ƒHead office in Chappes, near Clermont-Ferrand (France)
• ƒƒ3 ,500 co-op members in the county of Puy-de-Dôme and surrounding villages with 2,000 farms under contract with the Co-operative
• ƒƒNearly 1,200 employees in Auvergne (Group workforce: nearly 7,200)
• ƒƒMore than 40 facilities in Auvergne
• ƒƒNearly 160 researchers in Auvergne (number in the Group: more than 1,400 researchers)

Contributing to the agricultural performance of our region

“Because of its distance from established shipping centers and its low production volumes, Auvergne does not benefi t from the conditions that enable its farms to be competitive with regard to standard production. And so the Co-operative tools that have been implemented help us to achieve greater local added value. This value comes from the construction of chains that are specialized in wheat and corn, but also from the seeds activity in corn, wheat and even vegetables. The Co-operative's mission is to make sure that the production of its members is sold at the best value. In this way it contributes to the vitality of the region and to maintaining the rich fabric of family farms. The same ambition can be applied to livestock breeding. In this case it is expressed through the pertinence of the new “domagri, animal feed” offer, and more widely in terms of the agricultural supplies proposed.”

  “Seed harvesting is a crucial moment in Limagne. In 50 days, more than 40,000 tons of unprocessed ears have to be harvested and delivered to the Ennezat factory. The ten corn-pickers of the region harvest the vast majority of the plots. This year, exchanges were set up between harvesters to make sure the factory received regular supplies, to increase the size of the lots to be harvested and to optimize movements of machines. 800 of the 6,000 hectares of production were actually concerned by these exchanges. Even if certain aspects can be improved on, this is a first step. This approach will show itself to be useful in future and mean that this extremely stressful phase of harvesting can be completed with composure.”