Trentino is one of Italy’s leading areas for trout farming, thanks to its many cold-water streams and Alpine springs: ideal conditions for trout growth and welfare.
Although the tradition of fish farming is deeply rooted in this area, in recent years the sector has grown significantly, recording +12.4% in 2024, and has become a hallmark of the region’s local production.
To tell you more about this sector, we went to Tione di Trento to meet Azienda Agricola Serafini, which specialises in breeding and rearing freshwater trout for sport fishing, human consumption and farming.
There to welcome us was Simone, farmer and company founder, who is responsible every day for monitoring and ensuring the welfare of the trout.
Mini Agri Smart: the compact telehandler for trout farming
Trout farming is a particularly complex sector, where moving between tanks, managing feed and travelling over wet, narrow or unpaved surfaces all require a stable, agile machine that is easy to manoeuvre.
According to Simone: “the company needed a compact machine with good lifting capacity and excellent manoeuvrability, including on unpaved roads. In fact, the work areas often involve moving between tanks, manoeuvring in tight spaces and travelling over uneven ground”.
For this reason, Serafini decided to add the Mini Agri Smart 20.4 to its fleet: the compact DIECI telehandler designed to deliver efficiency, versatility and performance, even in the most challenging spaces.
The model stands out for:
- compact dimensions, with a width of 1.55 m;
- lifting capacity of up to 2,000 kg;
- lifting height of up to 4 metres.
The compact telehandler, such as the Mini Agri Smart, is therefore a particularly suitable solution for farms, livestock businesses and production companies that need to move loads in tight or complex environments, where a traditional machine may be too bulky or not versatile enough.
What particularly impressed Serafini was the machine’s stability, maintained even in irregular working conditions. As Simone explains: “to check that it was the right machine, we tested it in demanding working conditions with a heavy load of 1,600/1,700 kg, to assess its stability and performance on uneven roads.”
Mini Agri Smart 20.4 passed the test with flying colours, becoming a key machine in Serafini’s fleet.
One telehandler for an entire trout farm
The ability to work easily on uneven ground is one of the main advantages of the Mini Agri Smart, setting it apart from other machines such as forklifts and lift trucks. This compact telehandler offers versatility, traction and freedom of movement, features that have made it the best-performing solution for Azienda Serafini’s day-to-day operations.
Stability, however, is not the only feature that won the fish farm over.
Every day, the Mini Agri Smart is used mainly for two tasks:
- feeding the trout;
- moving the fish from one tank to another.
Here, what makes the difference is the equipment, which is easily interchangeable and turns the machine into a key operational asset, avoiding downtime and improving day-to-day productivity.
In particular, Mini Agri Smart 20.4 has been equipped with:
- a feed spreader mounted on the forks;
- a stainless-steel tank with weighing system for moving the trout between the tanks.
As Simone explains, combining the telehandler’s features with the chosen equipment has brought the company tangible benefits, such as: “lower fuel consumption compared with previous machines, along with reduced processing times and less operator fatigue. With a single machine, they can move easily between the tanks and carry out many operations that would otherwise have required long working times”.
In light of this positive experience, Simone would recommend the Mini Agri Smart to other businesses with similar needs, especially to those looking for:
- a compact and agile solution, with excellent handling capacity even in tight, confined spaces;
- a high-performance machine for continuous handling on uneven or irregular ground;
- a versatile, reliable machine, capable of optimising time, resources and day-to-day work cycles.
Storo Diesel: by your side from telehandler selection to after-sales
In sectors such as fish farming, purchasing a telehandler is not always the first choice. This machine is often associated with fields such as agriculture, construction, emergency and mining.
The strength of an expert dealer lies precisely in the ability to listen, understand the customer’s real needs and guide them towards the most suitable solution.
This is the case of Storo Diesel, the DIECI dealer for Trentino, which guided Azienda Serafini through the purchase of the Mini Agri Smart. The sale is part of a broader journey: in recent months, Storo Diesel has introduced several DIECI machines into the aquaculture sector, consolidating an increasingly practical understanding of the operational needs of these businesses.
By analysing the farm’s needs in detail, Storo Diesel was able to identify its real requirements, offering a complete, effective solution capable of bringing a genuine advantage to the company’s work cycles. In addition, thanks to continuous after-sales support, Azienda Serafini is guaranteed constant, rapid assistance even in the event of issues or malfunctions. This is added value for a business that cannot afford machine downtime or slowdowns, always putting work quality and trout welfare first.
We would like to thank Simone for opening the doors of his company to us and for sharing his successful experience with DIECI compact telehandlers… and on to the next machine!