In conversation with… Luca Valerani, R&D manager at Zoogamma
By innovating, we can achieve greater success even with small improvements.
Veterinarian Luca Valerani has been working for Zoogamma, which forms part of the VanDrie Group and produces dairy raw materials and calf feed from its base in Northern Italy, since 2018. He combines three positions there: R&D-manager, laboratory manager and veterinary nutritionist. “We need to become more open-minded and abandon the idea that things should never change.
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First of all, to what extent can Italian and Dutch calf feeds be compared?
Luca: “They are actually difficult to compare, because there are some major differences. At Zoogamma, we produce about eighty per cent of our calf feed for the open market and twenty per cent for integration. At the subsidiaries in the Netherlands, that ratio is exactly the opposite way around.”
What themes play an important role in Italian calf husbandry?
“The biggest challenge relates to the health of the calf. Dairy farming in Italy differs from that in the Netherlands: less use is made of vaccinations for cows, and colostrum management is less developed. As a result, the quality of calves we are dealing with in Italy is different. The second challenge we face is the variation in the types of stalls. Feed robots are widely used in the Netherlands. That works well there because stalls are quite similar throughout the country. They all have the same kind of feeding alley, with uniform sizes and so on. In Italy, however, no livestock shed is the same. Some are high, others low and some of them are new buildings, while others are actually very old indeed. Installing new systems there is no simple matter.”
The biggest challenge is the health of the calf. Dairy farming is different in Italy than in the Netherlands.
What does innovation mean to you?
“Innovation means looking for small improvements to optimise existing products and processes. This can be done, for example, by using resources more effectively or by promoting clean and more environmentally-friendly technologies. Innovation enables us to become more successful, especially when combined with developments in research and knowledge.”
What is your most notable innovation in recent years?
“That would be our new blending system. Unlike Dutch farmers, Italians want a product that includes straw, which they can feed to their animals as a ready-made product. They do not want to mix the feed themselves, as farmers do in the Netherlands, but they want ready-made feed, so to speak. We therefore supply mueslis that contain everything: roughage, grains, legumes and pellets. However, making pellets produces a lot of dust, which affects the whole muesli. That is why we have now separated those two processes by adding a second mixer. In one mixer we make the pellets, in the other we mix all the other ingredients. That way, that second line does not suffer from the dust formation caused by the pellets.”
Why is dust formation a problem?
“Calf feed should not only be nutritious and tasty, but it should also look good. The calf itself may not care, but the farmer does. Pellets break quickly, creating grit in the muesli, making it look unattractive and making it easier for dust to form in the shed. The result is similar to what you see in a bowl of cornflakes that we humans eat for breakfast. They too will look better and tastier when they are whole than when they are broken or crumbled. We therefore try to make the pellets as durable and hard as possible, so they don't break easily.”
You recently introduced the Zoo app. What does this app entail?
“The Zoo app is an application we have developed ourselves at Zoogamma. It is a useful tool for our lorry drivers, making the logistics process demonstrably more efficient. The app manages all of the documentation. Everything is now digital, there is no more paper involved. The app allows drivers to see exactly where they need to be at what time. As a result, they are not needlessly waiting in front of the factory before their turn comes around. This saves time and is also more environmentally friendly, as the engines do not run unnecessarily while waiting.”
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Another innovation of yours is the sensor inside feed and manure silos.
“That’s right. It is often difficult for farmers to find out exactly how much feed is left in silos. Some veal farmers weigh their silo including its contents, but it is not very accurate. Others do it entirely by guesswork: by hitting the silo with a hammer to hear how much is left in it. Since they do not know exactly how much feed they have left, things regularly go wrong. Feed is then ordered only when everything is almost gone and we have to deliver it at the last minute. Of course we do deliver – animals need to be able to eat – but it makes our logistical processes unnecessarily inefficient. To prevent that, we developed a sensor that is placed inside the silo. This sensor measures the exact height of the feed in the silo. Data is tracked in real time and forwarded to the farmer and to our logistics department. This enables us to let the veal farmer know that it is time to order, in case they have forgotten to do so. That has advantages both for the farmer and for us.”
Do the sensors for manure silos work in the same way?
“For manure storage, we have indeed developed a similar sensor. It measures the amount of manure in the tank in the same way. That way, you know exactly when the manure needs to go into the field. That used to be done based on feeling, i.e. by estimating; that too is now much more accurate than before. This saves time and fuel and provides labour savings for the veal farmer.”
What are you doing to work in a sustainable and energy-efficient way?
“Heating milk for calves requires energy. The water must be heated to ninety degrees Celsius. To do this in a sustainable way, many farms use a solar water heater. This means that in summer, you don't need to use gas or other fuel, as the sun provides enough energy. There are also many solar panels on the roofs. In particular, it generates the power needed for the fans to cool the stalls. We aim to provide all farms with solar panels, but the laborious licensing process in Italy means that it can sometimes take a long time to realise this.”
Our main goal is to use fewer raw materials in our feed, which can also be consumed by humans.
What are your plans for the future?
“Our main goal is to use fewer raw materials in our feed, which can also be consumed by humans. We want to make animal feed using residual waste flows from the food industry, as well as from products left over in supermarkets such as bread or milk. Once they have been sterilised, they can be used to make excellent animal feed in many cases. This is a great example of circular production. We are also working towards more precise feeding. The mindset needs to change: we need to start thinking less from food to manure and see food more as a means that enables the animal to grow. We therefore want to tailor the feed even more closely to the animal's needs, for example by further adjusting the proportion of protein to the calf's requirements. This also results in less protein in the manure and urine and also allows you to feed so much more efficiently.”
Finally, are there other things that could improve the Italian veal sector?
“In my opinion, we need more women in our industry. In Italy, the veal sector is really a man's world. You do see women in the laboratories and offices, but too few in the fields and livestock sheds. That is a pity, because women actually have specific qualities that could come in handy in this work. In Turkey, Lebanon and Vietnam, among others, a surprisingly large number of women are involved in the care of newborn calves. This is a conscious decision by the owners of the businesses there, as women often provide better care. There is less calf mortality in those countries thanks to the skills of those women. Women can also play such an important role in Italy. We are happy to offer them internships so that they can get to know all facets of the profession. In Italy, the prevailing ideology is ‘I always did it this way, so why should I change it?’ But we need to become more open-minded, as that is the only way we can improve the veal sector.”
In my opinion, we need more women in our sector. In Italy, the veal sector is really a man's world.