“We are moving data to action in an accurate way for the farmers.”

Gabriele Marchesi is our Digital Offer Manager for Farmers, a new position in Digital Services to upgrade our support and relationships with our farmers. He was born in 1984 in Bergamo, in northern Italy – close to Milan – where he still lives enjoying the countryside.

His interest in farming comes from the time he spent with his grandparents. During that time, he acquired a passion for agriculture and a deeper understanding of farmers’ key role in securing food production and their challenges.

“My grandfathers – mother and father’s side – were working for farmers, and during weekends or school holidays they got me in contact with cows, horses, pigs, and all the animals you have at a farm, and I learned a lot from the time we were walking in the countryside.”

Following his call for farming was far from easy since he also planned to go in his father´s steps. “My father is an electrician and has a different mindset and style. I studied electronic technician and was ready to work with my father at the end of this study. However, I was very young and just wanted to stay with the animals and in the countryside. So, I decided to start a long journey at the University of Milan and listed myself for the Animal Science degree.”

Specific solutions to different challenges   

Building relationships and designing solutions for the agricultural industry have been essential for Gabriele’s professional life. He has a PhD. in Animal Science from the University of Milan. He conducted extensive research to optimise dairy farming and patented some solutions.

“I like to combine the knowledge about the animal part with the electrician part I learned, and always try to find a solution to a problem.”

Gabriele has patented a GPS/GSM (Global Positioning System and Global system for mobile communication) -based birth alarm system for grazing cows. The system implements a GSM device to alert the farmer via SMS in case of calving. At the same time, a GPS calculates the location of the cow about to calve.

DeLaval in focus

In 2010, Gabriele did an internship in DeLaval that allowed him to expand his knowledge and get to know the company better.

“During my PhD, I worked with the Herd Navigator team for three months in Sweden. I loved DeLaval from the beginning because of the fascinating technology and all the fantastic work going on. I learned a lot in DeLaval.”

When he finished his PhD, Gabriele started working for an Italian dairy company and travelled worldwide to meet dealers and farmers.

“My goal was to work for DeLaval from the beginning, and in 2016, I got a call from DeLaval Italy. They offered me to be a Solution Manager. It was a yes immediately!”

Gabriele emphasises the importance of having a close and sincere relationship with farmers and dealers.

“For us, in DeLaval, it is crucial to listen and understand, to see them and put ourselves in their position; otherwise, we would not be able to bring the solutions they need.”

Moving data to action

Gabriele says it’s crucial to help the farmers to understand how their data will be used to improve the performance of their farms.

“DeLaval farmers around the world have a system collecting data from a parlour, rotary or a VMS, and they are trying to understand what more they can do with the data from those systems. We need to be fully accurate when we move this data to action, and this is exactly what we all are doing.”

Gabriele finds his inspiration to continue delivering quality results in keeping himself busy. He has a bee colony and is always looking for ways to innovate things around him. On top of that, he has an exceptional sense of humour, which he says is helpful to overwin challenges – and an attribute that is very appreciated by his kids, 12 and 4.