When the cows come home – Why entrepreneurial Italians are taking up farming

The high-tech operation enables Ravera to keep 150 dairy cows, make cheese and sell it at two farmers’ markets each week with minimal assistance (her mother and brother work part-time, and there is one full-time helper). Registering La Rienca as an azienda agricola, Gherpelli and Piana can sell directly to consumers from their home, at farmers’ markets and fairs, and by mail order. The house that Gherpelli and Piana live in, and the land on which their greenhouse sits, have been leveraged as collateral for their bank loan, along with the homes of a few family members.

Source: www.1843magazine.com