Clémentine Perrin

As a technical sales executive, one of my main responsibilities is to help farmers maximise their return on the crops they grow. In other words, I advise them on supply purchases, the technical aspects of farming, and also on how to sell their cereals. And so I wanted to explain to you how I support them in this aspect of their work.

In the current context, a sales strategy is a vital part to ensure farm competitiveness. Markets are increasingly uncertain, and they change constantly under the influence of factors including supply and demand, shifts in the climate and geopolitics.

To keep farms on an even keel financially, it’s advisable to split sales of cereals into batches and secure the supplies. Consequently, I get in touch with our farmer members at least three times during the year about selling their crops. At our meeting, we go over the positive points and areas for improvement from the previous season. Then, I analyse the farmer’s needs (storage on the farm, any cash-flow issues, break-even point, etc.). Once I’ve identified these expectations, I’m in a position to present to the farmer Axereal’s various sale offers.

We’re then ready to work together to define the farm’s sales strategy, and we’ll set a date for another meeting, which will give the farmer time to familiarise themself with the market and track it. Axereal’s strong point is its ability to add value to cereals through the numerous different channels available, and I’ll steer farmers towards these if they can meet the required specifications and expectations. This part of my role is gratifying both for me and for the farmer, because it crystallises the purpose of the whole year’s work.

During my time with the company, I was tasked with securing renewals for Farmstar, our decision-support tool, during off-season meetings with our farmer members. Put simply, Farmstar is a decision-support tool that uses a satellite photo to tailor the fertilizer doses for plots to their actual needs. In my opinion, it’s a very important service, because it’s a concrete way we can support farmers in managing intrants more closely, so that they can use less of them. During the meeting with the farmer I collect the required data (the previous crop sown in the field, variety, sowing density, how the soil is worked, etc.). This will be used to calculate the precise dose of fertilizer to spread, taking into account the nutrient reserve in the soil (what remains from the previous year). We track plots very closely at different stages, which keeps us in close contact with the members through until harvest. During the season, we work on Farmstar with the Farmstar agronomist who comes to each area to lead technical meetings to help with understanding the results in the context of the weather conditions. These tools are a constant help to me in my job as a sales advisor because they support the arguments I put to the farmers on the basis of the agricultural transition and help me to advise them.

The 2023 season is under way! Axereal cooperative members have now sown their rapeseed. To get their production off to the best possible start, our team of technical sales executives undertakes crop tours with the farmers to check that the seedlings are emerging well. It is important to see whether there are enough plants per square metre, so that the rapeseed can grow up evenly, and also to check for insects that could hamper growth. We advise the farmer members on corrective actions for their plots if, and only if, these are necessary. The ideal scenario is to carry out these tours once a fortnight to monitor the crop, helping farmers to secure good yields from healthy plants that flourish right through until they are harvested. I enjoy crop tours because they are an opportunity for me to develop my technical skills and learn more about the specifics of the area in which I work, as well as maintaining close links with the farmers.

One of my responsibilities at Axereal is to help monitor the nitrogen farmers use to feed their plants (under something called a "fertiliser plan"). A fertiliser plan is used to calculate the doses of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) required by each crop, for each plot on the farm, to ensure that the right dose and no more is applied to each area, in a targeted way. A large amount of information is required to work this out, for example the crop grown before the current one, the yield, etc. The fertiliser plan contains a provisional section (a plan of what is to be applied to the crop) and a logbook section (the doses actually applied to the crop). My role in the project included collecting the information from cooperative members throughout the year in a decision-making tool, which has a software interface. The tool provides the traceability required by law, but more importantly it enables us to calculate the precise doses of nitrogen required by the plants. From my point of view as an apprentice, this is a very valuable project to be involved in because we monitor the cooperative members’ crops throughout the year and because it’s an operation that enables the crops planted to reach their full potential, contributes to sustainable farming and fulfils the legal requirements.

During my year with Axereal, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside the technical sales executives in my area at what we call “off seasons”. An off season is a meeting arranged in advance with a farmer so that we can spend time with them looking at their crop management approaches, securing their supplies and identifying the best potential markets for their crops. It’s vital to prepare before you go to meet the farmer because, as the saying goes, “If you forget to prepare, prepare to be forgotten”!

After preparing for the meeting, the sales executive heads out to the farm to present to the farmer the new potential markets identified for them, and the proposals prepared in advance. We always maintain a technical and business focus that will enable the farmer to reach their objectives, and a sustainable agriculture angle. These meetings are an essential component of our relationship with the farmer. We start with a discussion phase, and then the sales executive will restate the farmer’s needs to check everything is correct before concluding the meeting.

After each meeting with a cooperative member, we take as many notes as possible, so that we can offer effective follow-up and, if the farmer contacts us with a question, answer straight away.

So that’s how an off season works at Axereal. These meetings are an opportunity for me to bring together the business skills I have learned at college and the technical knowledge I have gained while working in the company.