Jackie ZAWADZKI and I met about ten years ago, while I was a scientific adviser for the Pilardiere Group. Then I suggested an approach entirely based on unanimously recognized elements by the international scientific community. I am truly convinced that we can communicate effectively without using unreliable assumptions about the mineral nutrition of ruminants. I had the pleasure and the great surprise to get a positive responses from him. We have estalished our advice on this approach for many years while giving significance to the information and training of our partners. Based on its own analytical laboratory, Jackie ZAWADZKI will certainly help to reinforce this approach and its relevance to animal welfare and livestock performance.

I met Jackie ZAWADZKI during my time as a Research Director at INRA. We set up a research program to define the impact of nutritional microelements on the epigenetics and performance of dairy cows. Through this program, we welcomed a doctoral student and we shared his supervision. The study of epigenetics is an innovative field of investigation. It enables the research of biomarkers representative of the footprint left on the genome by the environment (especially nutrition) and explain the performance or individual phenotypes. Our research program has benefited from Jackie ZAWADZKI's practial field expertise, both on farm management and the relevance of the nutritional intake quality for the welfare and performance of dairy cows, and the development of bovine epigenome analysis methods that I led. Jackie ZAWADZKI rapidly learned and understood the concepts of epigenetics, namely the opportunity to develop a diagnosis and to introduce corrective and positive drivers for the expression of the genetic potential of farm animals. In order to satisfy his scientific curiosity, this program generated many thought provoking and forward-looking exchanges.

After 20 years as a research engineer specialised in sheep farming and forage at the Livestock Institute, I became a farmer in cattle & sheep production in organic agriculture (lafermedetom.com) in 2013 at 50 years old. Jackie and I followed the same training path. I joined the Enform project because I believe that good resource management on a farm is a key factor in technical and economic performance. This includes knowing the nutritional value of forages. It should not only be limited to energy or protein but it must also consider minerals with different issues due to their diversity. Highly dependent on external factors the valuation of their contents needs to be more investigated. Working on innovative R&D projects is also a source of motivation in a context where market demand is constantly changing.