Europe's leading trade fair for beef producers, the SOMMET DE L’ELEVAGE, is fully booked with 750 exhibitors, 7 % more than at last year's fair. 70 000 visitors are expected at this event, which will be held at the Grande Halle d’Auvergne show ground, Clermont Ferrand (France) from 6 to 8 October 2005, and will be inaugurated by French President Jacques Chirac. A total of 1 500 animals will be presented and the National Charolais Competition will certainly be one of the high spots of this year's show. The "animal health" area has been extended, with a large number of laboratories taking part.
The SOMMET DE L’ELEVAGE continues to expand internationally. More than 200 foreign exhibitors, particularly from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria will be present and a large number of delegations have already booked the event. The organisers expect 1 500 foreign visitors, compared with 1000 in 2004. Visits to farms, technical sites and insemination centres will be organised for them and an international trade fair reserved. Mexico will be the guest of honour, with twenty Mexican farm managers invited in partnership with UBIFRANCE and the French Livestock Institute. A symposium on the theme of stock breeding in Mexico will present detailed information on breeding in a country with a strong livestock farming tradition.
As part of the French National Charolais Competition, Charolais breeders will present the 500 best animals representing one of the world’s leading cattle breeds. Many European and international visitors will make the trip for this occasion. An auction of high genetic quality Charolais cattle will be organised at the same time. Limousine, Blonde d’Aquitaine, Salers, Aubrac and Gasconne cattle will also be presented in traditional competitions. A new breed will also make its entrance this year: the Parthenaise, from Poitou-Charentes region. Piemontese, Belgian Blue and Ferrandaise breeds will complete the beef cattle area, so that the SOMMET DE L’ELEVAGE will present 95% of the French suckler breeds and confirm its role as the leading meeting place for beef cattle in Europe.
Other interesting areas at the show: the dairy cattle, sheep and horse pens, which will be bigger this year. The dairy cattle area will welcome a new arrival, with the Jerseys, as well as holding interregional competitions for the Holstein, Montbéliarde, Brown Swiss, Simmental, Abondance and Tarentaise breeds. Normande and Flamande breeds will also be presented. Two auctions of elite Brown Swiss and Simmental heifers will be held in the dairy ring. In 2005, the area dedicated to sheep will be twice its previous size and for the first time will hold national Charollais and Ile de France competitions with more than 150 animals competing. Other hardy and grassland sheep breeds will also be presented. Finally, the horse area, already presented last year, is still growing. 300 draft horses (Percheron, Ardennais, Breton, Comtois…) and other saddle horses will compete or be presented, making the SOMMET DE L’ELEVAGE the leading horse breeder's fair in the South of France.
As is the custom every year, throughout the show, there will be conferences and symposia on agricultural themes including, for 2005, "The future of beef breeds in Europe", "Livestock buildings", "Installation and working in agriculture", etc.
As a dynamic showcase for the latest technological innovations in the sector and a platform for meetings and exchanges, the SOMMET DE L’ELEVAGE is undeniably the leading European event for professionals in the stock-breeding sector
