COW BELLA: Dozens of Italian dairymen learn from Maricopa

Fifty Italian nationals toured dairies in Hidden Valley today, learning better American practices to feed livestock — but they were the most well-fed by day’s end as an iconic local dive bar cooked up a quintessentially American feast.

Balchem Animal Nutrition is an American company with regional headquarters in Marano Ticino, northern Italy, and sends its chemists and dairymen on a stateside tour once yearly.

This year’s expedition included stops at T & K Dairy and Shamrock Farms in Stanfield in conjunction with the University of Arizona’s Maricopa Agricultural Extension.

“We do things a lot differently here than in Italy,” said Ben Hardcastle, tour guide and manager of western states for Balchem. “They’re here to see the difference of scale.”

Something to write home about

For many rural Italian dairymen like Damiano Raniero, used to 500-head cattle farms, the Maricopa tour is a lesson about industrial management. Even in the tiny Stanfield community, population 457, dairies have 15,000 cows apiece.

“We have to scale up in Italy from our small family farms,” Raniero said. “Our aim is to learn from how you face the drought, which is a problem evolving for us.”

The cohort learned how to combat drought, keep cows cool, feed and milk them on the industrial scale.

Many of the Italians spoke to InMaricopa about their experience, some with the help of a designated translator, and likened animal horticulture in the American Southwest to their own country.

“It has been really tough for Italian farmers,” said Andrea Graziosi. “The weather is changing, and structures that were built for the weather 50 years ago are working against us now.”

The American Dream

Raceway Bar and Grill on Papago Road in Hidden Valley is usually closed on Tuesdays. But today, the succulent smells of American comfort foods wafted through a packed house.

“What better audience to judge your cooking?” Raceway owner Rand Del Cotto joked as he and his whole family prepared the feast a couple of hours before the Italians — people defined by their cuisine — arrived.

With many visiting the U.S. for the first time, the group got more than they bargained for when they requested American fare: ribs, fried pickles, baked beans, potato salad, Chicago-style pizza and cornbread with whipped butter.

“I didn’t want to take them to Olive Garden,” Hardcastle laughed. “I wanted an Arizona desert pub with some character.”

After dinner came a pistachio-coated surprise — Del Cotto, who has Italian heritage, fried and stuffed a huge batch of cannoli. It was the first time he made them since working a bakery 20 years ago.

“It would be a missed opportunity if we didn’t give them a little taste of Italy,” Del Cotto said.

The desserts earned the Italian nationals’ elusive culinary approval, as did the tour of Maricopa dairies that morning.

“We’re looking for the American dream,” Raniero said. “Most Italians look to the U.S., the country that’s ahead, for progress.”