NOMINEES FOR THE SIMA FARMING AWARDS 2022

Sergio was born and studied in Lisbon as an agronomy engineer and then moved to Romania in 2005 to start his agricultural project. Today his farm covers 23,000 hectares. With his 132 employees, he grows wheat, barley, corn, soybeans... And to do so, he uses various innovative techniques such as no longer ploughing his soils, using cover crops... all in order to protect his soils and improve their natural fertility. In addition, they use natural irrigation systems to protect this resource. Less water and fuel consumption for a cleaner agriculture!

Ailbhe Gerrard is a farmer at Brookfield Farm in Tipperary. She is an educator with a keen interest in farming as a creative and collaborative activity. Her farming responsibilities range from broadleaf plantations, multi-species livestock to honey-producing beehives and even experimental crops! She works with farming communities, independent farmers, artists, scientists to promote the importance of crop diversification and a fairer, stronger agriculture!

Nick grew up on his family's land. At the age of 21 he is co-founder of 3 companies. One of them specialises in sheep farming. Together with his brother, they raise lambs that are 100% grass-fed on their own pastures without any fertilisers or pesticides. They are recognised throughout Ireland by local restaurants and chefs as high quality suppliers. His latest project is a software program that allows farmers to accurately track the animal's needs. It allows them to move away from general treatment with deworming drugs to targeted treatment, treating only the animals that really need it. Already marketed and used by farmers in the region, this solution has already proven itself!

Bertrand GUERIN and his two partners manage a family farm with several crops and livestock created by his grandfather in 1926 and located in the Dordogne region of New Aquitaine in France. They raise dairy cows and produce walnuts and chestnuts. Besides the 3 partners who are over 50 years old, they have just installed 3 young farmers and employ 3 young employees and apprentices. Fully committed to the agro-ecological transition, they have decided to decarbonise their agricultural production: they have been operating a methanisation unit in cogeneration since 2011 and produce photovoltaic electricity on the farm buildings. In 2022, they set up a bio-NGV fuel production unit which In 2022, they set up a bioNGV fuel production unit that supplies 7 vehicles on the farm, one of the first six methane tractors in France and the milk truck that collects their milk.

Yannick LABAN runs an Aberdeen Angus beef farm and an organic farm. He had the privilege in 2019 to be a Nuffield France fellow. His subject of study was quality beef production with respect for animal welfare and the animal welfare and the environment. In particular, he is looking for the best genetics in order to achieve food autonomy. The fact that he is 100% grass-fed means that he cannot import any protein or other supplements. For the cereal part, he mainly grows soya in AB. His costs are therefore low and his cattle are healthier.

The EDT PERSPECTIVE association, created in 2006 in the Hauts de France region, brings together 14 agricultural work companies and related activities, which have set up a management system certified by the ISO 14001 standard. The approach combines a reduction in environmental impact and an improvement in organisation and also integrates health and safety at work. For the members of the association, their first objective was to be exemplary in controlling environmental risks in their activities. Thanks to their experience, their second objective is to disseminate alternative agricultural solutions to accompany the ecological transition. The 2022 innovation is to be able to cover a wide range of services in the Hauts de France geographical area. Thus, since 2015, the members have been monitoring a certain number of environmental, economic and social indicators in order to effectively manage the activity.

Heleen and Rogier both work on their dairy farm, and in addition to offering short consumption circuits, they have taken advantage of this proximity with consumers to create discussion tables. Beyond that, they work as a family on this 47-hectare farm, where their 90 cows and 40 bulls can graze. This farm is oriented towards sustainable agriculture, without pesticides, with organic products! In addition, they offer an innovative solution, the DOEEMEE, dinner dialogues, during which individuals and professionals gather around the table, cook local products and engage in group discussions on various subjects related or not to the agricultural world.

Ray does not come from a rural background. A former environmental science teacher, he decided to try his hand. Now a Nuffield Fellow for his research on "integrating trees into the farm environment", he works closely with farming communities who help him set up his project. Now a small farm owner, he works with 12 other farms on the Farm-Forest Project. This project aims to preserve the environment, connect farmers and improve the quality of life of the herds.

After obtaining a degree in agricultural engineering, David PAILLAT set up in 2001 on the family farm of dairy cows and conventional farming. He developed a project for a collective agricultural mechanisation unit in 2015 for 12 farmers in cogeneration and a project for a BioGNV station in 2022 for professional and personal energy autonomy and the introduction of a bus between Niort and our village. It has several innovations: Production of bioGNV for New Holland Power methane tractor, farm cars and dairy truck. This allows him to reduce the use of fertiliser by 30% and the use of GNR by 70%.

François PARAYRE works on a family cereal farm of 550 ha south of Toulouse and produces leguminous cover crops and plants spring crops without glyphosate or rarely more. He has divided the nitrogen fertiliser by half or more for the same or higher yields. For winter crops he carries out two false seedings and sows his cereals with his disc harrow, still without glyphosate. For the rape crops he plants a faba bean as a companion plant, to reduce pressure from flea beetles and also to reduce his nitrogenous manure. The farm is HVE3 certified, 50 HA organic and will soon be certified low carbon. His crop rotation includes no less than 10 crops, which allows him to play with a multitude of phytosanitary product families to fight resistant weeds. He also practices low-volume spraying by softening the water and reducing the doses of products.

Jean-Sébastien Schills has been a farmer for just over two years. He is the son of a farmer and worked for 10 years in machinery and plant production before setting up. He works with his wife and father. They manage a small family They manage a small family farm that survives by diversifying. They produce cereals, flax, horse boarding, small bales of straw and hay and recently, drinking straws made of organic rye "la paille d'o".

Christel has been working in the agricultural sector since he was 16 years old. Since 2010 he has been working independently for a company specialising in soil disinfection. In 2011, he became the first contractor in the Netherlands to use innovative techniques such as soil scanning, precision drones for fertilisation and crop protection. As a result, he co-founded "Dronewerkers" to spread these innovations!

Bruce is the 8th generation to work on his family land. In 2012, he became a landowner. In 2015, thanks to the abolition of milk quotas, he increased his herd from 54 to over 300 cows. Despite this, he decided to keep a sustainable agriculture. His cows can graze freely on his 150 hectares of meadows and forest. This is coupled with new breeding methods, without antibiotics, using software to apply the right treatment to the right animal at the right time. He also had the original idea of raising a species of beetle on his farm to help decompose excrement and, above all, to promote biodiversity on his farm!

Roland has been working on the family farm for as long as he can remember. His goal is to continue to develop his pig farm in a more sustainable way, using renewable energy and bio gas. On his farm he has developed a unique natural fermentation solution to prevent disease in his pigs and to help them grow!