At the beginning of 2024, Maïsadour launched a major communication campaign. The aim was to continue developing this 100% local production, which offers real opportunities for producers.
Tailor-made support from VEGA* Maïsadour
Thanks to the expertise of VEGA* Maïsadour’s teams, the Cooperative helps growers choose planting, varieties, soil improvers and fertilisers. Technicians provide technical support for crop monitoring. This comprehensive support extends right through to harvesting, as Maïsadour trains seasonal workers.
Farmers also benefit from secure marketing thanks to a partnership with Priméale, France’s leading asparagus marketer.
Every 1st May, Maïsadour takes part in the Asparagus Festival in Pontonx-sur-l’Adour (40) to promote this typical local product.
A farmer member producing asparagus speaks out
Farmer member at Sabres (40) and new chairman of the Cooperative’s Asparagus Committee, Armand Grihon has always been a fervent supporter of this vegetable. He took over the family farm in 2017 and immediately threw himself into asparagus. “When I set up, I had to find a way of generating extra income. Given that I didn’t have the capacity to invest in land, asparagus was the most viable project,” he explains.
He planted 10 hectares in 2016, the same in 2017, before replanting a further 5 hectares in 2022 and 4 in 2023. This crop now accounts for more than 10% of his farm’s UAA. “My mother was an asparagus grower for over twenty years. I’ve always had an affinity with this product, which I’ve known since I was a child.
‘I can see the transformations that the asparagus has brought to my farm’.
Today, he is delighted with this decision. “All the indicators show that, over the last 10 years, asparagus has generated the most income per hectare. And by far! What can be scary is the organisation of harvesting and labour management, but practices have changed a lot, with the introduction of assistance machines in particular, and you shouldn’t hesitate to draw on the experience of existing producers to find the best way of organising things,‘ he continues, before concluding: ’7 years on, I can see the changes that the asparagus workshop has brought to my farm. Without it, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to set up as efficiently.
