Interview with Edouard Huchin, veterinarian and Apexagri expert
Hello Edouard, can you tell us a little about your career path?
I graduated as a vet from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse in 2008 and began my career specialising in equine medicine. After gaining some initial experience in the field, I went on to do an internship in equine medicine in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, between 2009 and 2010. Back in France, I worked in a mixed practice, mainly with horses and cattle, first in the Loir-et-Cher department for three years, then in the Gers department for two years.
In 2016, I moved into the poultry sector and took over a practice in Brive within the Anibio group, where I still practise today. The practice has two main areas of expertise, poultry farming and veal calves, although my work is now mainly focused on poultry. Since 2019, I have also been working in slaughterhouses as a contract inspector for the Lot veterinary services. I am also a trainer in animal welfare and lesion recognition for poultry slaughterhouse staff, and I work as an animal welfare auditor for the poultry, ruminant and pig sectors.
Since 2022, I have also been a reserve veterinarian in the armed forces, a commitment that takes up a few days a year. Finally, for the past two years, I have been actively involved in the development of the One Health concept, an approach that is central to the Anibio group.
What expertise do you bring to Apexagri?
What I bring to Apexagri are skills that are both cross-disciplinary, acquired through my experience in various livestock sectors, and comprehensive, with a vision of the production chain from newborn animals to processed products. This approach allows me to work on key issues such as animal health, animal welfare, product traceability, regulatory compliance and sector sustainability.
These skills have led me to participate in international missions in Australia, the United States, Chad and Germany, in a wide variety of contexts and production systems.
In three words, how would you describe Apexagri?
It is difficult to choose just three words, but if I had to, I would say:
- Human: Apexagri is above all a company on a human scale, where relationships, availability and friendliness are central. It’s an environment where you feel listened to and supported!
- Dynamic: the company is constantly on the move, very active in developing new projects and strengthening its visibility. The young and committed team brings this energy to the workplace every day.
- Challenging: the projects on offer are intellectually stimulating and represent real professional challenges, which are both demanding and particularly rewarding.
What do you like most about working with Apexagri?
What I particularly like about working with Apexagri is above all the variety of projects. Each project is different, covering a range of topics and contexts, which means there is no routine and makes the work particularly stimulating.
I also appreciate the geographical diversity of the projects: Africa, Australia, the United States, Germany… Being able to discover the world in a professional setting, meet farmers and local populations, and understand very different production systems is an extremely enriching experience.
Even without knowing in advance what the next assignments will be, I know they will be exciting. They offer the opportunity to share our skills, carry out extraordinary projects and take on intellectual challenges that push us out of our comfort zone.
Finally, teamwork is a key element for me. Sharing, complementary skills and the pleasure of collaborating with teams that we get to know well are essential to the success of our assignments.
Do you have a particular mission that stands out in your mind?
The mission that stands out most in my mind is the one I carried out in Chad. It involved 10 days in the field, working with a team of 10 people, for a total of 21 days, including a debriefing phase in Paris. It was a particularly ambitious mission, aimed at evaluating the country’s livestock policy and proposing improvement plans, in a context where Chad has the third largest livestock population in Africa.
The mission was very well received, both internally and by the client. The challenge was considerable, but the experience proved extremely rewarding. The exchanges with the transhumant livestock farmers were particularly memorable and meaningful.
It was my first mission in Africa, and it had a profound impact on me and strengthened my desire to continue my commitment to Apexagri!
What do you think are the major challenges for sustainable agriculture?
The biggest challenge remains raising collective awareness of the issues involved in developing sustainable agriculture:
- For livestock farmers: it is essential to anticipate the future. They must be able to rely on sound, viable and economically sustainable tools that can be used in the long term.
- For distributors: the logic of price wars is now reaching its limits. It is becoming necessary to imagine more virtuous models, in which value is better distributed and margins are actually passed on to producers.
- For consumers: they also have a decisive role to play. They are responsible for their purchasing choices: what they favour is produced, what they neglect disappears. It is essential to accept paying a fair price for a product. Wanting quality products, such as organic products, without assuming the cost is not compatible with a sustainable system. Consumers must also accept that more standard products, which meet the majority of needs, are produced locally under controlled conditions rather than being imported from third countries where standards may be less stringent.
- For public authorities: protecting our farmers is a major challenge. The requirements imposed on them are numerous, but they lose all meaning if, at the same time, products that do not meet the same standards are allowed to enter the market freely.
Can you think of a success story in the agricultural world that deserves to be better known?
One project that immediately springs to mind is “C’est qui le patron ?!” (Who’s the boss?). It is a virtuous system, both simple and effective, which restores meaning to the relationship between producers and consumers. The products are easily identifiable and accessible on the shelves, allowing everyone to make an informed choice.
Whether you decide to buy or not, the message is clear: by choosing these products, you are directly contributing to a fairer and more responsible model for farmers.
What advice would you give to a company wishing to structure an agri-food chain or develop an agricultural project?
To structure an agri-food chain or develop an agricultural project, I believe several principles are essential:
- Surround yourself with experts in the field: professionals who have “their boots on the ground” and are familiar with the operational realities and daily constraints. Pragmatism and adaptability are keys to success.
- Maintain a permanent link with the field: the reflection and construction of the project must involve all the actors concerned and avoid purely top-down decision-making processes. Collective buy-in is essential to the project’s success.
- Bring together complementary skills: a solid project is based on a multidisciplinary approach, integrating agronomy, veterinary medicine, economics and social issues. This diversity of profiles is essential to understanding the complexity of agricultural sectors.
- Propose a model that is both distinctive AND applicable: successful projects are those that are rooted in the reality on the ground and provide real added value, in line with the expectations of the stakeholders.
- Integrate the sustainability dimension: projects must be in tune with their local environment, not undermine existing activities, and benefit the economic and social fabric.
- Respond to economic reality: an initiative that cannot finance itself or meet a real need cannot be sustainable, however virtuous its intentions may be.
A final word to conclude our discussion?
Thank you to the entire Apexagri team, and I would like to take this opportunity to share the greetings of the Anibio team! The partnership between Apexagri and Anibio is a virtuous and mutually beneficial model. It allows Apexagri to draw on a network of field veterinarians with varied profiles, and Anibio to showcase its skills and expertise through rewarding and stimulating assignments.
A big thank you to Edouard Huchin for agreeing to participate in this new “Expert’s Eye” format by answering our questions! If you haven’t read it yet, check out our first instalment with Michel Montet.