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Born more than 100 years ago with a stable and only 7 cows, today the Carioni Group, based in Trescore Cremasco, in Lombardy, has 2000 dairy cattle and approximately 1000 cultivated organic hectares.
Thanks to investments in technology, made with the contribution of European programming funds, over the years the company has become a model of agricultural entrepreneurship rooted in the territory which has always maintained a family management.
Innovation, but also transparency and traceability: the cow feeding and milking systems are robotic and this has made it possible to streamline the 'hard' work of the operators who can concentrate on animal welfare and their tracking.
In fact, each bovine is associated with a pedometer, a sort of smartwatch that monitors its health and analyzes its habits.
Robots and smartwatches in the hi-tech stables in the province of Cremona
"Every 15 minutes - explains Sara Carioni, manager of the farm - we detect all the activities of an animal, from rest to movement up to production. Thus we are able to immediately identify the cattle in good health and those that are in difficulty".
The housing spaces are large and designed to reduce the stress of the animals.
"In recent years - he adds - we have focused on the circular economy. We sow and grow vegetables and cereals which are the basis of the cows' diet. The percentage of use of internal products in the animal ration is 85%".
Robots and smartwatches in the hi-tech stables in the province of Cremona
The cattle, in addition to the milk which is transformed internally and marketed, also produce livestock waste which is recovered to produce digestate in the company's biogas plants, an excellent fertilizer for the land, but also energy reused for self-consumption and sold to the network national.
Also thanks to the push of European resources, that of the Carioni Group has become the "largest robotic milking parlor in Europe" where it is possible to milk up to 20 cows at the same time, with an increase in milk production between 12 thousand and 20 thousand liters more per day.
Robots and smartwatches in the hi-tech stables in the province of Cremona
"Now - observes Francesco Carioni, general director of the Carioni group - it is the animal that chooses when and how much to be milked before returning directly to its berth. And this also allows us to increase food safety, with real-time monitoring that guarantees to the consumer a superior quality of our milk and our cheeses".
Robots and smartwatches in the hi-tech stables in the province of Cremona
Video Robots and smartwatches in the hi-tech stables in the province of Cremona