a visionary cooperative started growing sunflowers before the shortage

Maxime Leroy is a farmer in Avesnes-les-Aubert (Nord). In September, he will harvest just over two hectares of sunflowers. It all started two years ago. “We said to ourselves: ‘why not’. We have climate change, we have the land to do it, it’s a spring crop”lists Didier Villain, technician for the agricultural cooperative of Saint-Hilaire-lez-Cambrai. The idea was visionary, as the price of a liter of sunflower oil tripled in one year.

Opposite the plot, the cooperative has also planted rapeseed, which it has been transforming into oil for fifteen years. It produces 5,000 liters each month, and plans to do the same with sunflowers in the fall. In this 100-year-old cooperative, diversification is nothing new. Despite the shortage of sunflowers, Jérôme Lobbedez, the director, wishes above all “put out a quality product” and promotes short circuits.