Paolo Montemerani, head of the Associazione Senese Allevatori:

“I've always been fascinated by agriculture”

The Associazione Senese Allevatori (A.S.A.) is a very important organization for all the local farmers in the province of Siena . The A.S.A. is an umbrella organization, who takes care of the interests of the farmers. But how significant is the A.S.A. for the Chianina breed? We went to ask it to the head of the A.S.A., Paolo Montemerani.

“The A.S.A. was founded in 1955, but was only legally recognized in 1961,” says Paolo Montemerani. “The organization has to record and register all the animals that are born. All the specifications, such as date of birth, pedigree, weight and size are accurately being listed, because they are crucial for later selection: which animals are suitable for breeding and which are stock for slaughtering. In former days, everything was recorded manually and now it's all done with the computer.”

Paolo Montemerani: "Our employees are
closely working together with the farmers"

“The farmers aren't obliged to join the A.S.A., although the government strongly encourages membership. About 105 Chianina farms and 80 pig farms have joined the A.S.A. The farmers don't need to meet any specific requirements to become a member, they only have to satisfy government regulations.”

Close to the farmers

“We have seven full-time employees and one part-time. Four of them work in the Siena office and the others are fieldworkers. They visit the different farms to inspect them,” says Montemerani. “Each farm is inspected at least four or five times a year. Our employees are closely working together with the farmers. After the inspection they are often invited for a drink or a meal.”

Bumped into it

“I have been working for the A.S.A. since 1996. I was born in a farmers' family and agriculture has always fascinated me, I kind of got into it by chance,” says Montemerani. After his studies in agriculture (1978), he started specializing in dairy cattle, but he didn't finish this specialty. Before he started working for the A.S.A., he worked for the agricultural department of Siena for 18 years. Though Montemerani has only eight years to go before his retirement, he still works as passionate as when he first started.

The white gold of Valdichiana

Montemerani supports the view that the Chianina breed is the white gold of Valdichiana. “Historically and economically this is a very correct statement,” he says. “The Chianina is one of the most important agricultural products of the Valdichiana region. It also strikes me that most of the farms who are a member of the A.S.A., breed the Chianina.”

The heaviest animal he has ever weighed in his career, was a bull of between 1600 and 1700 kilograms, about as heavy as a Mercedes Vito.

ndo

back