The Sommet de l’Élevage, held in Clermont-Ferrard, France, is the biggest indoor livestock show in Europe. This year, it attracted 85,500 people during the three days. The show also had 1,300 trade stands with an array of agricultural products.

Similar products are freely available here in Ireland and it is interesting to compare prices.

Some products that I came across would be hard to justify for the majority of livestock farms in Ireland because of the price they are retailing at, but perhaps in a few years these products may become more affordable for the average Irish livestock farmer.

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Ploughing 2014 was known for its innovation and the Sommet de l’Élevage had a similar trend.

The SMART Mat will be launched in Ireland next spring by Bioret Agri and is a new concept for monitoring cow performance.

The SMART Mat can record how often a cow lies in her cubicle and which cows lie down most frequently, as well as their sleeping cycles.

It will also record weight loss in the animal and, with this combination of information, it is claimed a farmer will be able to identify if there is an issue with a cow, as the mat will send back a report to the farmer’s computer or smartphone.

The product is still in its infancy, so the manufacturers were not able to discuss a price.

It will be launched in Ireland next spring towards the intensive dairy farmer market. Teemore Engineering, based in Fermanagh, is the distributor for Bioret-Agri.

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This is a handy cage that allows a farmer to control a cow when carrying out hoof paring. It would be of most value on dairy farms where routine hoof trimming is a requirement.

It is easy to transport, with a hoist winch belt that prevents a cow from going down when she is being pared. A winch is included that can hoist hind and front legs.

This cage works best where there are lockable barriers in a shed. Once a cow is locked in the barrier, the cage is rolled into her and the straps can be secured around her.

The cage is selling for €1,300 in France and the manufacturer, Mazeron, is looking for an Irish distributor.

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This sheep immobiliser would be out of reach for the majority of Irish sheep farmers at a cost of €6,000.

It is interesting all the same in that, when a ewe tries to run through the machine, a sensor goes off, feeding back to two soft arms that close in on the ewe and restrain her from moving any further.

Once the sheep is immobilised, she can be dosed, ear-tagged or crutched.

A press of a button and the machine’s arms open again and the sheep can move away.

When the next sheep tries to follow, she in turn is immobilised with the soft arms. DCH, a UK company, was showcasing this machine at the livestock summit and is also currently looking for Irish agents that might sell it here.

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French farmers are becoming more aware of individual livestock performance on their farms and more farmers are weighing stock.

This weighing scale is fully galvanised and retails at €2,300. It will weigh up to 2,000kg.

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Large, tipping water troughs are very common in cattle sheds in France.

Cattle are usually housed in large numbers and need a decent capacity water trough.

Similar to troughs on the market in Ireland, this one can be tipped, which makes cleaning a very quick operation. The trough pictured is made from stainless steel and has an 53-litre capacity.

The wall-mounted frame is made from galvanised steel and retails at €705 (troughs with legs will be more expensive).

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Many drinking bowls currently on the market are very difficult to fix if they break because the ball cock is covered in.

This trough is suitable for sheep and horses and has a stainless steel cover secured by a cap nut that can be removed, giving access to the ball cock. It is selling for €49.

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France is home to just over seven million sheep and the industry is very important, because French consumers are known for their consumption of lamb.

This sheep scale at the show was for sale at €510 and the clock was €277.

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This plastic meal bin has a storage capacity of 5.1t and retails at €2,300. This bin is not split and can only hold one ration at a time.

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Movable lambing pens were a common sight on the show grounds. The tubular gates pictured are 1m wide and were selling for €58 per gate, while the ones with the mesh were selling at €45 per gate.

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This calf creep retails at €750. It is fully galvanised and the meal hopper at the back could be filled with a tractor loader and bucket.

  • All prices listed above exclude VAT.