The final event of a series of meetings dedicated to the discovery of the Apulian milk supply chain. 1,500 visitors attended
Intense spring for the Regional Breeders Association (Ara) of Puglia: the most important event, in mid-April, with the initiative “Stalle Aperte”, this year involved farms and agritourisms in the provinces of Lecce, Taranto, Bari, Brindisi and Foggia. The event aims to bring citizens, mainly families, closer to the Apulian milk supply chain.
1,500 visitors joined and the number of companies involved increased from 7 in the two previous editions, in 2019 and 2023, to 12 this year. The novelty was the choice of structures, all corporate realities that are an expression of the so-called short supply chain.
An important moment of contact between the general public and the world of livestock farming, strongly desired by the Ara della Puglia with the support of the Regional Administration, in particular the Department of Agriculture. All this with the direction of the communication agency Pooya, directed by Francis Valenzano. The dedicated website www.stalleaperteinpuglia.it is also very functional.
«There is great satisfaction – said the president of Ara Puglia, Peter Laterza – for the complete success of this third edition of “Stalle Aperte”. I would like to thank, in addition to the Puglia Region, the twelve businesses, farms and agritourisms, that have made themselves available to be protagonists of the event. For us it has also been a concrete response to the continuous and insistent smear campaigns orchestrated by economic groups and political-ideological factions that have the sole objective of casting the world of livestock farming in a bad light. The reality of Italian and Puglian livestock farming is what we have made visible to all those who, during the day of “Stalle Aperte” (but the idea for the future is to extend the duration of the event to two days), were able to discover the environment in which our animals graze, the places where master cheesemakers transform the milk milked from the animals – mainly cattle, but also sheep, goats, buffalo and donkeys – into tasty and inimitable products». A heritage made up of ancient knowledge but also of great growth in terms of breeding techniques.
Limousine Breed Meeting in Putignano
Among the technical meetings organized by Ara Puglia with some selection bodies, the one held with the National Association of Italian Charolais and Limousine cattle breeders (Anacli) in Putignano, in the province of Bari, at the Tenute D’Ambruoso company, was particularly successful.
The meeting, which was well attended by breeders, with over 100 participants, was attended by:
- the president of Ara Puglia The third,
- the regional councillor for agriculture Donato Pentassuglia,
- the president and the director of Anacli, respectively Emanuel Noble e Stephen Saleppichi,
- the coordinator of the breed experts, Silvio Pistis,
- the director of “Ruminantia” Alexander Fantini,
- the researcher of Dagri-University of Florence, Mary Clare Fabbri,
- the mayors of Putignano Luciana Laera and of Walnuts Francesco Intini.
Ara Puglia complimented the host, John D’Ambruosofor the impeccable hospitality. The meeting also allowed us to analyze the growth margins of the Limousine breed even in a difficult territory like that of the Murgia barese. The Limousine, thanks to its characteristics of adaptability and resistance even in particular environmental conditions, for its ability to exploit extensive grazing and for its maternal attitude, is well suited to enhance the quality meat supply chain in Puglia, in an area traditionally dedicated to dairy farming.
