Società Agricola Messori e Rovatti
Azienda Agricola Messori e Rovatti was founded in 1977 by grandfather Gino and grandmother Agnese. Since 2013, Matteo and his father Mauro have been running the farm, with the help of Matteo’s mother, sister and six employees.
There are a total of 420 head of cattle, 200 of which are lactating. The farm’s 220 hectares of land are mainly dedicated to the cultivation of alfalfa for animal feed, having reached total self-sufficiency. About 40 hectares are dedicated to vineyards for the production of Lambrusco.
Since 1997, the cowsheds have changed from tethered to free stalls and a milking parlour has been installed. The milking parlour is one of the first that was built with a raised floor so that the operator did not have to deal with a step all the time. This intuition came from Grandma Agnese, who milked until she was 84 years old. In charge of the milking parlour is Matteo’s mother, who has been milking every morning since 1997, with a total of more than 60,000 milking hours.
“The best thing about this job is the satisfaction the animals give you. Their well-being is reflected in the final product. It is a quality product. Passion is fundamental and the main motivation is to pass on this trade from father to son”.
Numerous measures have been taken to ensure greater animal welfare: larger spaces, increased watering and the introduction of fans, the creation of a dry box and pastures to allow the animals to relax their muscles.
Technology is also coming to the rescue to further improve animal welfare. An automatic suckling machine for calves has been introduced, which administers milk for proper weaning, and a camera to monitor the calving room.
The latest investment involves tags that update all the animal’s motor data and information such as ingestion, rumination and heat stress in real time, so that action can be taken quickly if necessary.
“What distinguishes is our forage management. We pay a lot of attention to in-country processing and storage because for us it is crucial that the product retains its nutritional characteristics. The bale isn’t left in the country because we don’t want it to absorb moisture and we also have a dryer to maintain its properties. We care that our animals have high quality fodder. Furthermore, we do not use chemical fertilisers, only manure from the farm. There is a big difference in the quality of the product”.
Besides the farm, another passion unites the family: tractor races. Dad Mauro took part in championships in the 1980s and passed the passion on first to his eldest daughter and then to Matteo, who continues to participate in local competitions.
