This game is Farming simulator, an agricultural simulation video game, in which agricultural education students have been competing since the end of August in a national competition organized by the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) . If no Charente team has qualified for the final which will take place this Saturday, in Boisseuil (87), south of Limoges, there are nevertheless many in the department playing apprentice farmers online.
Like Ambroise, training at the Oisellerie agricultural high school, in La Couronne. “I’ve been playing it since 2013, and every year I buy the new edition because there are always interesting developments,” says the 18-year-old player. “It’s a fairly realistic game, which allows for example to experiment with practices on screen, such as direct sowing, before applying them in the fields.” The game goes even further, since everyone must truly manage the economic affairs of their farm.
Covering both field crops, vines and livestock, Farming Simulator will add, in its 2025 edition which will be released on November 12, the production of rice and spinach. “And also goat breeding,” recalls Ambroise, impatient to recreate the model of the family farm in Marcillac-Lanville, to give it a parallel digital existence. “It gives me ideas about operating costs, the cultivation sites to avoid,” lists the young man at the head of a virtual farm of 400 hectares.
“We organize this competition to promote agricultural professions and make young people want to settle down one day,” explains Yohann Barbe, national spokesperson for the FNSEA. “In agricultural training, we have many more young people today who want to become advisors rather than farmers. But the game sometimes allows us to detect talents and encourage vocations.”
Like at Elouan. “It was the game that made me want to become a farmer,” says the 18-year-old, now on a course at Oisellerie. “My family does not come from an agricultural background. I’ve been playing Farmer for five years, and I’ve learned a lot about how machines work and farming in general.”
It is the manual profession par excellence and, in the 21st century, it is also learned on a screen. But Farming simulator is a bit like farming with your feet in the Charentaises. You will not find bluetongue ready to decimate your herds, nor wild boar damage to your crops. The hailstorm on the orchards will only have an impact on your good mood, and no neighbor will come and bother you if you risk treating your plots on a Saturday morning.
“There is a way to borrow money for free. Of course, in reality, it doesn’t exist!”
“It’s still a game,” confirms Jérémy Richard. The goat breeder in Villefagnan plays there from time to time, if he misses the fields when they are not accessible, or “on the rare winter evenings when there is nothing to do. But we are still quite far from reality. And there is no risk.” Apart from that of going into virtual bankruptcy.
An ode to agricultural machinery, with 150 brands represented
“There is a method that allows you to borrow money for free. Of course, in life, that doesn’t exist,” reports Ambroise, pointing out the danger of making a job more desirable which in reality is no longer so desirable. “The risk of confusing the real and the virtual is the one that exists for all video games. This is the interest of this event on Saturday, because the players will be able to meet real farmers and interact on the reality of the profession,” indicates Yohann Barbe.
“It’s also a network game that brings together a community,” underlines Jean-Bernard Sallat, who recalls that there are 28 million players around the world, and more than 100,000 in France who have already played simultaneously. “It’s unifying. When a player has free time, he can work on his neighbor’s farm,” warns Ambroise. “There is this solidarity in the game that we can draw inspiration from every day on our real farms where everyone works in their own corner. It also helps to alleviate certain constraints of the profession,” explains Yohann Barbe.
Encouraging helping hands to weed carrots, the game is also an ode to agricultural machinery, with 150 brands represented. “Tractor driving is indeed highlighted, in particular because the large agricultural machinery companies are partners in the game, and thus advertise themselves,” confirms Jean-Bernard Sallat. “But there are now more artisanal methods such as the processing of milk or vegetables.”
Developments which, according to the FNSEA, are necessary to adapt to the new realities of the profession. “This is also the reason why the union joined forces with the publisher of the game”, argues Yohann Barbe who would see other relevant developments such as “integrating the fact that the size of farms must no longer be a criterion determining. That the preservation of waterways, biodiversity, and better, the biodiversity of each territory, must be taken into account. »
A national event open to the public
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region will be represented this Saturday, at the Limousine Park in Boisseuil, in Haute-Vienne, for the French Farming simulator cup, since the Rural Family House of Beynac will participate in the final phases. The seven other teams who will compete for the title of champion of France come from Eure, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Indre, Seine-et-Marne, Tarn, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Morbihan. In this mecca of Limousin breeding where this national event will be held, two well-known influencers from the agricultural world are also expected, Marlonn (En3rgie5) and MisterWallon. “This allows us to reach a very wide audience. Marlonn is followed by more than 280,000 Internet users,” declares Jean-Bernard Sallat, president of FNSEA 16, who specifies that the event is open to the public.
