.png)
We are in the company of Stefano Bellia, legal representative of Società Agricola il Maialino Rosa, a pig farming company in Martellago, in the province of Venice. The company was founded in 1973 by Valerio, Stefano's father. Since 2019 there has been Stefano at the helm who, together with the family, decided to commit to the company immediately after completing his studies at the Duca degli Abruzzi Institute . The company is spread over about 10 hectares of property, four of which are dedicated to raising pigs. About 100 hectares, on the other hand, are devoted to cereal farming for pig feed, and another 200 to slurry management. In addition to breeding, there is also the farm store at the company headquarters, where zero-mile products can be purchased.
We currently have 4 tractors: a 100-horsepower John Deere 5100 for lighter work (es. mixer wagon, mash desilting), the Fendt 314 for seeding work and for handling some light tillage of cereals (such as seeding, weed killer barrel, weeding), the John Deere 6230R for medium-heavy work, and the Fendt 942 (purchased in 2019 from Zambon Macchine and called Black Fury) for slurry hauling and heavy tillage of soils.
2021 saw the addition of the Ravizza barrel, one of the first with an Overtruck system, with a capacity of 2700 liters to which Vogelsang's UniSpread boom is connected. The whole thing communicates directly with the tractor thanks to ISOBUS technology, so I can control from the tractor monitor - and also from theapp xFarm - all the information from the barrel.
We are often asked why we have such a fleet: we have always tried to have vehicles congruent with the work we have to do in the company, so that all needs are covered.
The name is related to the real user of the vehicle-for me now driving it has become almost a luxury-that is, Valerio, my dad. He is the one who passed on to me the passion for this work and we are very close. His nickname, since he can never be still and quiet (especially when he is driving), is precisely Fury; hence the name that everyone knows today, which is Black Fury.
I approached xFarm because as a company we are focusing so much on technological innovation, particularly in agricultural machinery. The experiences of other colleagues made me curious and convinced me to experiment.
In 2020, with the arrival of Fury and then of the barrels equipped with ISOBUS technology, we began to understand the benefits of Agriculture 4.0. A first step that then led us to interconnect these vehicles to the platform xFarm. In fact, having the machinery part, the field management part, and the bureaucracy part in one app is very useful at the level of reducing paper work and timelines. I would also recommend it to colleagues with smaller companies, to have the whole company under control and daily data always updated.
Having the data at our fingertips helps us keep track of management costs, raw materials, and allows us to understand what the real costs of running the farm are. In terms of sustainability, it allows us to reduce fuel consumption, plant protection, and generally improve crop management.
Until a few years ago we used only the classical rain gauge to estimate rainfall. However, the information we could get was quite limited and we had no history available. With xFarm , we explored the world of sensor technology, and today we are able to have much more timely and comprehensive monitoring of our fields, which is increasingly important given the more unpredictable weather each year. To do this, we installed a weather station and a soil moisture sensor. These return a lot of data and allow us to monitor the plots at all times, even remotely; we also receive agronomic advice, for example related to irrigation activities or for treatments.
I think the future will be one of agriculture that is increasingly digital, connected, sustainable and quality-conscious. Personally, the goal is to make better and better use of my social pages as well, I think it is important to communicate and make people understand, especially young people and those who are not in the field, what Italian agriculture really is. Showing what is done on a daily basis in the field is a nice opportunity that social gives us to make people understand how the excellence of Made in Italy is produced.
In terms of business growth, we have focused on renewing the machine fleet by also increasing it by a satellite-guided tractor with variable rate seeding.
In the future, we would like to bring technology to the farm as well, with the goal of becoming an even more sustainable company, including implementing new technological solutions with even more forward-looking investments. On this path xFarm as a technology partner will certainly be an important support.
.svg)
