SPACE has begun! After two years without a physical show, they are back with an in person event this week

This week kicks off the 35th year for SPACE, being held from Tuesday 14th to Thursday 16th at the Rennes Exhibition Centre in France. There will also be a fully online day on Friday 17th, and going ahead this will become the new normal. The Minister of Agriculture conducted the opening of the event earlier today, and was able to meet some of the exhibitors and visitors in person unlike last year's virtual show.

Alongside the event, there is also the digital app, which allows you to better organise your visit as well as letting exhibitors and visitors to stay in touch. The app contains the list of exhibitors, the Innov'Space winners, the virtual conferences program, and much more.

Nearly 400 farms have signed up for the different competitions being held within SPACE, with the event being the perfect place for breeders to meet and learn more. This strong demand demonstrates the attachment of breeders to the competitions as well as the commitment of Space to showing high quality animals. 'We are not a stockraising show disconnected from reality. We believe it's vital to have animals at the heart of Space. It's certainly an animal show but also a meeting place for breeders. It's a strong mark of our affiliation to stock raising,' says Marcel Denieul, Show president. The animals at Space are long time holders of health passports and are making their big comeback, confirming their high genetic quality.

The committees made up of breeders and technicians have pre-selected 764 animals from 370 farms based on their performance and anatomy. The final selection is made the week before the Show. For 15 percent of the exhibitors it's their first show proving that the selectors are open to all the breeders with the 'right animal' as Mr Denieul says.

This year, there are over 1,100 exhibitors at SPACE, including 223 first-time exhibitors and 323 international companies. Names such as Adisseo, Alltech, Biomin, DSM, Evonik, ICC Brazil, Ke Gouessant Aquaculture, Olmix, Phileo Lesaggre, PLP Liquid Systems, will all be there, as well as many more.

There will be over 100 conferences throughout the SPACE event, with today focusing on agri market focus in Ireland; optimising reproduction in dairy cows; poultry environmental assessments; looking at antibiotics in pig, poultry, and herbivore farming, just to name a few.

Tonight is the exhibitor's dinner, where the Innov'Space prizes will be given to the winners. This year, 108 entries were submitted and after being reviewed, 35 were designated as winners. All winners are categorised through a star system, each winner is awarded one or two stars based on the value of the product, service, or equipment. Of the 35 winners, 28 received one star, seven received two stars, and in the exhibitor's dinner tonight, the panel's Top Choice awards will be announced, earning them three stars.

For more information about the event visit the website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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