A walk - short - in our short supply chain

Genuine events: the Cascina Aperta

Next opening: date to be defined.
For info and registration contact sara@carnegenuina.it

How to explain the concept of a short supply chain to the people who come to visit our Farmhouse (emblem of the network of farmers who collaborate with us)? We are not an educational farm, but every now and then we like to offer a practical demonstration of the path that exists between breeder and consumer and for this reason we periodically open the farmyard of our company to visitors; the morning can be proposed as a fun activity for children in Treviglio, but the trip is enjoyed by people of all ages!

The initiative is called Cascina Aperta and consists of an educational journey, as short as our supply chain. The path develops through the production phases of our closed-cycle company, explained in 4 main stages.

First stop: the farmhouse lawn

Precisely a multi-phyte stable meadow, the route begins here, walking on the green and lush meadow that runs alongside the Cascina. Why is this so important? Because this is the type of meadow that guarantees fragrant and nutritious hay to our Italian cattle for what can be defined as a "dry" grass fed diet, guaranteed for 365 days a year and not limited to the most favorable seasons for pastures. The stable polyphytic meadow is a spontaneous meadow, rich in nutrients, scents and different herbs, which grow freely according to Mother Nature's times. In just a few steps we can recognize dozens of essences, such as clover, alfalfa, plantago lanceolata, dandelion and many others.

Second stop: the barn

It is here that the grass from our meadows, dried by the sun and packaged in bales, is stored throughout the year. Not all hay is the same and each bale has its own peculiarity, depending on the type of essence and depending on the mowing period: maggengo hay, agostano hay and terzuolo, also called first cut, second cut and third cut and so on. Each hay has different nutritional characteristics and for this reason they must be mixed together to make up the daily fodder of our cattle. In the barn we also explain the fundamental difference between hay, straw and stalks: the former is a food, the latter instead derive from crop waste and are mainly used as bedding for the stables, which are disposed of in the manure and, in winter, return to lawns in the form of fertilizer.

Third stop: the stable

Here we are in the place where we can recognize the "ingredients" just discovered in the barn: hay in the mangers, straw and stalks in the bunks and in the pens, to provide comfortable, clean bedding for the cattle. They are the protagonists of the stable: the dairy cows and beef steers of the Assanelli F. Agricola farm, all born in Cascina, as in the past. We have Friesian cows, black and white, specialized in milk production and we have Belgian Blue crossbreeds, recognizable by their white and blue coat, a breed also known as the "Piedmontese of Belgium". And finally the "vip" breeds of our stable: Angus and Wagyu bred in Italy, also born here in Cascina. For Wagyu, the same bovine breed as the famous Japanese meat, we have a cow-calf line and since 2017 we have been following a process of crossbreeding and selection which has led, this week, to the birth of a Wagyu calf with 87.5% purity %.

Fourth stage: the products

The final products of the farm, namely milk and meat. For the first, we visit the milking parlor, to observe the origin of the milk: here, the Lely Astronaut milking robot thinks of everything! When a cow feels the need to be milked, she approaches the robot and a mechanical arm cleans the udders and collects the milk in the tank: milking takes place in total self-management!

For meat, we visit the headquarters of the Carne Genuina startup, which is the place from which product shipments throughout Italy depart: 100% Italian zero-impact meat deriving from our cattle and the other products from the short supply chains of our genuine network.

An opportunity to breathe the farmhouse air

Cascina Aperta allows you to experience the authentic experience of the supply chain of a family-run farm, where every step of production is managed by a trusted person. We love to let people know about our rural reality, allowing them to personally experience the attention, effort and care that farmers put into their work, to appreciate even more the taste and authenticity of a quality product, coming from the supply chain short of a trusted company: Genuine Meat, from the farmer to your table, like in the past.

Do you want to come and visit us another time?
Here are the opening hours of the Cascina :

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8.30am - 1.30pm
Thursday: 11.30am - 1.30pm
Saturday: 8.30am - 1pm