Genetic diversity is something a successful dairy cattle breeder really should consider when planning the next generation of dairy cows. It is no secret that inbreeding - the mating of related animals - is an invisible, costly and growing hazard for dairy farmers all around the world. 

There is an increasing interest in using polled bulls, to breed away from horned cows and thereby avoid dehorning of calves. In other countries such as Germany, this is an area that is greatly in focus, and they have many polled bulls to choose between. In the Nordic countries, the focus has been limited until recently. Currently, approximately 10 % of the AI bulls carry polled genes, but this number is increasing.   

For the past two years, The Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), the Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation (NAV) and the University of Aarhus in Denmark together with VikingGenetics have been working on developing a Feed Efficiency Index that can stand out from other ones available on the market – an index that dairy farmers around the world can trust.

Read new VikingNews online

The Nordic Cattle Breeding Cooperative VikingGenetics has started the search for a new CEO. This follows the resignation from the current CEO Rex A. Clausager, who joined VikingGenetics in November 2014

The May proof run has given us new #proofleaders for VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey

With the May proof run we reveal new and interesting bulls available in our lineup! 

With the May proof run we reveal new and interesting bulls available in our lineup! 

With the May proof run we reveal new and interesting bulls available in our lineup! 

The April index run of Germany announced an interesting change in their focus. Germany introduced a new overall health index and are next in line to see the value of cost reduction also from a breeding perspective – a focus that the Nordic countries and VikingGenetics have had for over 40 years. 

Dennis and Erin Lomax believe the Jersey cow is the perfect choice when it comes to kilograms of milk solids to kilograms of cow body weight. The Lomax’s are achieving an average of 525 kg milk solids from a 475 average body weight cow.

The best production sire with outstanding levels of fat and protein 

As Danish Red cows are not as widespread in Denmark as other breeds, Hans Peter Lildholdt feels he has a bigger responsibility, both in terms of his contribution to breeding and the story of Danish Reds

On Wednesday 27 March the breeders of some of VikingGenetics’ best selling sires in the home markets were invited to a celebration event in the bull stud in Assentoft

Are Nordic cows the best in the world? Watch the video! 

Total merit indexes like NTM (Nordic Total Merit), JPI, TPI NM$ index, PLI, BPI among others are important genetic selection tools. The indexes differ by the traits covered and by the weight allocated to the specific traits.

Tiina and Pauli Laakko's Nalle family is quite a galaxy. There are stars, and more are coming. The brightest of these is VH ByNalle and the rising ones are VH CoNalle and a heifer called Oops-Nalle, that was flushed in January.

Anders Forsberg is operations manager at Gl. Krogaard in Ullerslev on Funen, and he is a man with ambition. He cares for the 250 cows here as though they were his own, because one day they will be.

With the aim of improving milk production in Uganda, VikingDenmark has entered into a long-term partnership with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) in Uganda. 

The Casal de Quintanelas farm is located in Sintra, Portugal and has been using the ProCROSS system since 2007. The farm has 370 ProCROSS cows and owner, Antonio Castanhe­ria, took over the farm after managing it for several years.

In the farm Härjanurme in Estonia they have 1,074 cows and use solely genetics from VikingGenetics. 

Bjørn Lyngholm bases his breeding work on NTM at his farm near Gørding in Denmark. An enterprise that has now added a bull, VJ Dandi, to its breeding programme.

The February proof run has given us new #proofleaders for VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey

With the February proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the February proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the February proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

The highway leading from Iisalmi to Oulu in Finland divides the fields of Perkkiö farm. The two robot barns, completed seven years ago, house a 130-head herd. Last year, Satu and Tuomo Pulkka's fine herd produced 12,146 kg of milk (ECM).

As a dairy farmer, you are a very busy person, and you need to be an expert on so many things to keep your farm running. 

Tomas Moberg and his brother Björn are the fourth generation with a passion for cattle breeding on Rabbalshede farm. 

We have taken a look at our sales figures for 2018 and found the most used sires in our export markets in 2018. They are all very good sires with excellent breeding profiles. 

Nita and Jakob Gade have 385 Danish Red cows on their Stakildgaard farm, and their breeding strategy links in NTM to achieve the best possible end results.

Meet Ella and Soren Kaae, who have 240 Holstein cows in their herd, situated close to Frederikshavn in the very north of Denmark. 

Genetic information will be published in the Nordic national cattle databases in Finland, Denmark, and Sweden, and it is already available on all bull profiles on VikingGenetics’ websites.  

Kim Fagerlin has added VH Don Red - the first ever Red Holstein bull, that is now top of the list in the breeding programme.

Sofia Muñoz is a district veterinarian based on the west coast of Sweden and employed by the Swedish Board of Agriculture - a government agency. She explains that they are not only responsible for border control and official tasks but are also active in both large and small animal practices.

In the last week of November, VikingGenetics organized the Viking Open Days event including a visit to the Agromek Expo. Guests all over the world attended the event.

The Rinnes have a very clear picture of the genetic capabilities of their cows and using embryo flushing for their best females makes perfect sense on their farm. In 2004, they bought five embryos and got five heifer calves from them. To date, they have made over 70 embryo transfers and produced over 40 calves from them.

Erik Dolby and his wife Anne-Marie have been breeding for a medium sized cow at Fuglsøgaard farm in Denmark and as a result of this strategy, they are now increasing production while decreasing diseases in their herd.

Last week Cooprinsem, VikingGenetics’ distributor in Chile, held their annual Breakfast Event “Desayuno Lechero” with 250 invited customers. VikingGenetics is adding value to Cooprinsem´s offer to Chilean dairymen.

Total merit indexes like NTM (Nordic Total Merit), TPI, NM$ index, PLI, BPI, RZG among others are important genetic selection tools. The indexes differ by the traits covered and by the weight allocated to the specific traits

VikingGenetics in cooperation with our partner in Russia International Genetics Rus held two successful VikingOnTour events in Russia.

The November proof run has given us new #proofleaders for VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey

The Nordic Total Merit (NTM) index is an excellent tool to detect the most profitable bulls and cows for dairy business with respect for the balance between production, cost reducing traits and health. 

With the November proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the November proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the November proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

Last week VikingGenetics participated in an International Milk Seminar organized by Cooperative Colanta in Medellín, Colombia. Colanta is VikingGenetics’ distributor and the main Agricultural Cooperative in Colombia.

Total merit indexes like NTM (Nordic Total Merit), TPI, NM$ index, PLI, BPI among others are important genetic selection tools. The indexes differ by the traits covered and by the weight allocated to the specific traits

Few weeks ago we hosted a group of Lithuanian visitors to Denmark. The farmers and sales people from our distributor Gameta heard about VikingGenetics and our breeding program and philosophy. 

The International Bull Evaluation Service (Interbull) is a permanent subcommittee of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR). Interbull is the worldwide network providing genetic information services for improvement of livestock.

VikingGenetics opened a new subsidiary, this time in Germany. Rex A. Clausager, CEO of VikingGenetics explains more about VikingGenetics’ plan with the settlement of VikingGenetics Deutschland (VGDE) from mid-September 2018. 

VikingGenetics is excited to announce the launch of a subsidiary company in Germany. VikingGenetics Deutschland is, from today, operating with increased support and service level for German dairymen as a part of planned growth to further develop dairy cattle breeding in Germany.  

VikingGenetics is pleased to announce that Udo Carstensen has joined the VikingGenetics team as head of VikingGenetics Deutschland (VGDE).

VikingGenetics and the French Artificial Insemination company, Evolution, yesterday signed a strategic partnership agreement to increase their collaboration regarding the Jersey cattle breeding population.  

The August proof run has given us new proofleaders for VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey

With the August proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the August proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

With the August proof run we reveal new bulls available in our lineup! 

VikingDefence^TM is the proven solution to breed healthy and high-producing cows. VikingDefence bulls are the top bulls in our line-up for breeding daughters with good fertility and production plus a natural defence against diseases.

Meet Torben Thorsen - owner of Denmark’s highest yielding mixed herd

Meet Bjarne V. Hansen - owner of the highest yielding herd in Denmark.

Meet Lars Remme - owner of the highest yielding organic herd in Denmark.

Lisbon, Portugal. The ProCROSS conference “Lower feed costs – increase your profit” in Portugal has gathered farmers and journalists from the most progressive dairy markets in Europe. Participants were coming from Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden. The purpose of the two-day conference and farm visits was to officially launch the results of the latest trial from the University of Minnesota regarding feed efficiency on crossbred cows in the ProCROSS system.

VikingGenetics invited some top sales people from two South American countries, Argentina and Chile to Denmark, to participate in an intensive training about the Nordic countries breeding goal. 

VikingJersey had a delegation of 13 people attending the World Jersey Conference in Ohio, USA. 

Dag Arvidsson, the owner of Lövåsa farm, is an early adopter when it comes to new genetics, first buying embryos 20 years ago. “Two years ago I started to genomically test all females and use the bottom 30% of the herd for beef. This is the fastest way to make genetic progress in the herd,” he says. 

Methane emissions release both energy and  a potent greenhouse gas. VikingGenetics is conducting research with the aim of reducing methane emissions – not only to help the environment but also to improve dairy cow efficiency. Research into methane emissions has been pursued in parallel with research into feed efficiency.

November 15, 1998 was the birth date of the ProCross crossbreeding system in Oakdale, California. The three breeds were Holstein, VikingRed and Montbeliarde. This would become the world unique university proven crossbreeding programme known as ProCROSS. 

After the milk crisis of 2015-2016, demand for milk on international markets eventually out-paced supply, and prices began to recover. This is the first market-driven growth period in Europe since the removal of production quotas.

Last week we had a great pleasure to receive guests from Spain. Here are some pictures from their herd visits! 

The latest issue of our magazine VikingNews is now online.

The May proof run changed the bull rankings a bit and we are proud to present the new proofleaders for this index run; VH Cosmo, VR Filur and VJ Heavy. 

Total merit indexes like NTM (Nordic Total Merit), NM$ index, TPI and NVI among others are important genetic selection tools. They combine the traits that are of economic importance for dairy business into one package. The indexes differ by the traits covered and by the weight allocated to the specific traits. NTM places 53% of the total weight on health and reproduction traits, 30% on production and 17% on Conformation and workability traits. 

The Oulton House Farm´s philosophy is plain and simple: get lots of milk from healthier cows, as the manager of the farm, Sally Lea sums up. 10 years’ crossbreeding experience has shown them the path to achieve outstanding results. The farm has 430 cows, and is owned by Arthur Palmer. It stands out from the average performance of the herds in the United Kingdom for both health and production. 

The dairy farmers in the Nordic countries clearly understand that breeding is a crucial part of ensuring a successful dairy business and just as important as finance, feeding and management. 

On Tuesday 20th March the breeders of some of VikingGenetics best selling sires in the home markets were invited to a celebration event in the bull station in Assentoft, Denmark.

Kurt Hoekstra together with his brother Jack and his parents started to crossbreed their pure U.S. Holsteins and Jerseys with many different dairy breeds in Oakdale, California 19 years ago. 

Define your own breeding goal in the new version of VikMate by using VikRank. The bull selection and matching bulls to females is easier and faster. 

By approaching cattle health through breeding as early as the 1980s, the Nordic countries had considerably cut the incidence of diseases. 

ProCROSS Pioneers in Oakland, California opened their farms to show international dairymen how they have achieved success in their herds.  

Anna Adamczuk is Head of the Genetics Department at P.H. Konrad in Lomza, the leading importer and distributor of bovine semen in Poland. 

Monday and Tuesday this week the Danish Cattle Conference 2018 took place in MCH Herning Kon-grescenter in Herning, Denmark, around 2000 people participated on the conference. This is an annual event offering the latest scientific information from the global cattle breeding industry on topics like health, finance, feed and management to rearing calves and beef breeds. 

We have taken a look at our sales figures for 2017 and found the most used sires in our export markets in 2017. They are all very good sires with excellent breeding profiles. 

Farmers are showing interest in using VikMate and genomic testing on heifers as tools to improve their herds in Norway. Export Manager Peter Holm Weinkouff was recently in Norway visiting farmers and advising on VikMate. 

It is quite common for women to be in charge of the breeding plan in dairy farms in Finland, one of the VikingGenetics countries. Women have been doing this for decades, and there is no reason for this to change. 

New proofs came 6th February and the Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation (NAV) have added more females in  the reference groups for all breeds for the traits female fertility, calving ease, birth index, general health, hoof health and longevity. This means higher reliability for these traits and therefore we see some rerankings of the bulls.

Yesterday, the Indian ambassador of Denmark visited the VikingGenetics head office in Assentoft in Denmark.

Torre Santa Maria has started to see the benefits to make genomic test on all the females.  

In December 2017 Interbull released the new breeding evaluations. Interbull lists confirm the outstanding genetic level for VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey.

VikingGenetics is encouraging cattle breeding industry in UK to use breeding as an efficient tool to reduce the use of antibiotics at BCBC conference in Telford. Head of Breeding at VikingGenetics, Lars Nielsen, gave a presentation about the successful Scandinavian breeding programme. 

December 2017 proofs show that VikingGenetic's bulls dominate Canadian Ayrshire bull and cow lists

The price level of milk and meat, usage of sexed and beef semen, economic value of diseases and replacement rate were some of the topics that farmers, breed organisations and delegates from our three coops in the Nordic countries among others, analysed yesterday in Copenhagen. 

As an organic farm, Noltorp’s cows need to spend five months out on pasture and at least 50% of their daily intake must be grass. The farm is located in an area with plenty of natural pasture land and the soil is perfect for growing grass. The farm is owned and managed by Anders and Marianne Jansson. 

Our Export Manager Jan Andresen visited our distributor Lactis D.O.O. in Croatia just before Christmas. During the visit, Andresen had the opportunity to visit customers and see very good Viking progeny in the herds.

See our CEO's video greeting for the holidays! 

A group of dairymen from the United Kingdom and Germany had a very busy trip to Halland in Sweden last week. They were introduced to Swedish farmers using pure VikingRed as well as ProCROSS, the only proven crossbreeding concept in the world, which is using VikingRed, VikingHolstein and Montbeliarde in a three breed rotation cross.  

VikingEmbryo is our solution to reduce the generation interval for females by producing offspring from heifers. Here you will find an explanation of how our world-class program is running dynamically to achieve genetic progress. 

As a forerunner of cattle breeding in Scandinavia, VikingGenetics wants to stay in the frontline of cattle breeding development and is now putting more emphasis on embryo technology, while implementing a new production strategy.

Last week, VikingGenetics together with our distributor in Poland, P.H. KONRAD held a seminar for farmers to share knowledge about how to improve hoof health on dairy cattle. The main goal was to show that there are two important approaches to tackle hoof health diseases. Both approaches, Breeding and Management are important for cows’ welfare and farmers business. 

On the 10th of November our bull station in Hollola, Finland hosted special visitors from Russia. The Russian dairy farming delegation was in Finland to learn more of the Finnish dairy production and know more of the VikingGenetics’ expertise in cattle breeding. 

VikingGenetics is honored to have Søren Borchersen as a new Chairman of EuroGenomics and hopes for continued fruitful cooperation among the members of the EuroGenomics Cooperative.  

VikingEmbryo 20th Anniversary celebrations were held on the 24th October in Jokioinen, Finland. The event was hosted by VikingGenetics, Faba (The Finnish Animal Breeding Association) and Luke (Natural Resources Institute Finland). Over 140 people attended the event. The celebratory day went well and the long history of using embryos in cattle breeding commemorated properly. 

Yesterday, the World Health Organization started World Antibiotic Awareness Week. The whole world is turning its eyes to the issue of the rising use of antibiotics. Only with joint efforts on a global scale, we can tackle this problem and avoid the excess and vain use of antibiotics. Rising usage of antibiotics leads to more bacteria that are medicine resistant and the treatment of different illnesses becomes harder. 

New proofs came in 7th November and here we present you few interesting VikingJersey bulls.

New proofs came in 7th November and here we present you few interesting VikingRed bulls.

New proofs came in 7th November and here we present you few interesting VikingHolstein bulls. 

VikingDefence™ reduces the risk of incidences of clinical diseases treated with antibiotics such as mastitis and digital dermatitis, among others, by selecting directly for actual diseases registered under the indexes: General Health, Hoof Health, and Udder Health.

The herd of Niels Schmidt in Branderup, Denmark has been breeding for high NTM for 30 years and VH Grejs is the “icing on the cake” after their dedicated work. “Of course, I am proud that VH Grejs is bred in our farm. In a way, this is the icing on the cake after 30 years breeding work for me”, Niels says.

VikingGenetics welcomed a group of 11 persons from South Africa last week to Denmark. Chris Cloete and Johan Muller from our agent Genimex asked nine farmers to join the group and see and hear more about our breeding and genetics. The group visited both Holstein and Jersey herds and the head office in Assentoft so they could see both top bulls and excellent cows and herds. 

John Brealey is the owner of SEAGRO de Costa Rica, VikingGenetics’ distributor in this Central American country. Last week, Brealey paid a visit to VikingGenetics in Skara together with his daughter, Elizabeth Brealey and the manager of SEAGRO, Hellen Cabezas. They wanted to learn more about VikingGenetics since they believe the VikingJersey has a lot potential to be marketed in Costa Rica where they have mostly grazing systems. 

VR Viljar is an ET sire from Kuusela farm in Finland. VR Viljar has a very balanced proof. He is high in components, good in female fertility and excellent in udder health. Also the type proofs are strong with good height and optimal body coordinates, great feet and legs and remarkable udder. Viljar has travelled to Denmark to produce X-Vik semen earlier this year.

VikingAcademy 2017 took place in Copenhagen, Denmark with participation of our network of international distributors. Our guests came from Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Holland, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Lithuania, Croatia, France, Czech Republic and Estonia. The managers of our subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Australia, our Export Managers and the members of VikingGenetics leading group also took part in the activity.

15,000 crossbred cows and 103,300 pure Holstein on a new study that support the benefits of ProCROSS on all management levels. 

“Crossbreeding works very well in this country. We want productive, healthy and fertile cows and during the years with crossbreeding we have had very good results”, says Ajs Kirk when talking about his crossbreeding with VikingHolstein and VikingRed.

ProCROSS is a crossbreeding concept using Holstein, VikingRed and Montbeliarde breeds. ProCROSS is a breeding method managed by Coopex Montbéliarde and VikingGenetics. It’s the only scientifically proven crossbreeding program in the world.

VikingGenetics in Skara had the honor to host a delegation from China, led by Director-General Li Jianwei, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Department of Supervision of Animal and Plant Quarantine.

Last week, the genomic bulls VR Finduz (VR Fenton x VR Cigar x Gunnastorp), VR Herbert (VR Hjusticia x VR Niki x R David) and VH Fimpen (VH Foster x VH Grafit x VH Spex) got special attention when their breeders got the opportunity to see how they live at VikingGenetics bull station in Skara, Sweden