We may know a few farmers in our lives who, if they go on vacation, want to see more farms. Well, that seems to be an international commonality. A group of 20 Italian farmers were in Wisconsin over the past few days on vacation visiting agribusinesses.
Tour guide and translator Elio Mastrangelo says his travelers can’t help but do some work on this trip asking questions about business since Wisconsin farmers are willing to share answers.
“When you visit a farm, you speak with the farmer… you have some questions,” he says. “They are very open people, the local farmers in the United States. They don’t have any kind of secrets.”
Mastrangelo jokes that back home, Italian farmers are not as open about business details, such as the price of milk.
The group represented all regions of Italy, including Sicily, and all commodities from dairy and beef to row crops and vegetables. Mastrangelo says they were impressed by the size of the farms and equipment here in the U.S. While they were at Statz Brothers Farm in Sun Prairie, the visitors spent a good portion of the time taking videos of the equipment moving corn silage into bunkers.
“In Italy, you have to think that the average size of the farm is about 7-9 hectares,” he says, noting that a hectare is about 2.5 acres.
Wisconsin was the dairy portion of the tour. The 20 Italian farmers will spend the rest of their 12-day visit looking at crop farms in the I-states before culminating the trip on the East Coast. Mastrangelo says he was happy to see the beautiful autumn leaves while in Wisconsin – it was one of the many perks of the state.
The other farms they visited included Dettmann Dairy, Johnson Creek; Melichar Broad Acres, Port Washington; Majestic Crossing Dairy, Sheboygan Falls; Abel Dairy Farm, Eden; Rosendale Dairy, Rosendale; Krebs Dairy Farm, Sun Prairie; and Larson Acres, Evansville.
