by Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, Milling and Grain The vehicle traffic clogging the roads of Rennes, France told the story: the 33rd SPACE expo was back in town again, running from 10-13 September 2019. As usual it seemed like half the population of Europe was homing in on the Rennes Exhibition Centre. Every year, SPACE, or “Le Salon International Des Production Animals” (The International Exhibition for Animal Production) to give it its full title, provides agricultural professionals with one of the biggest exhibitions targeting livestock industry players with a show that covers a wide variety of species: bovine (dairy and beef), poultry, pig, rabbits, sheep, goat and, most recently, the fish farming sector. Rounding out the offerings are animal feed and nutrition, farm buildings, genetics, energy generation, animal health, milking, and livestock effluent treatment.
Innov’Space 2019
The highlight of the four-day exhibition is Innov’Space, a showcase for innovation in all aspects of livestock husbandry. These yearly awards recognise innovations in products, services, or tools that promise to have a profound impact on the industry. This year, 46 different products were nominated for a trophy, which are awarded on a one-to-three-star scale. Interest in this aspect of SPACE remains as high as ever. Each application was carefully vetted by a multi-disciplinary jury (independent of SPACE) consisting of engineers from Chambers of Agriculture, specialists from technical institutions Indra (National Institute of Agricultural Research) and Inpi (National Institute of Industrial Property), livestock veterinarians and specialist press journalists. Out of 135 applicants, the jury’s high standards 108 | October 2019 - Milling and Grain