Proud of our heroes in boots “K eep calm and carry on” is a well-known phrase used for situations like the one the world is facing right now with the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. People around the world have started to use it again to cheer up locked down communities and worried workers. As always, our thoughts go out to dairy farmers who are facing new challenges in short-notice terms. With production chains being affected by the crisis in different ways, from packing and manufacturing productions to channels of distribution and retail, farmers are facing a whole new world of urgencies and difficulties where their raw material – resilient animals – are clearly the main allies for this new journey. And while the world is asked to stay home, dairy and beef farmers still go out, do their work, and keep putting food on people’s tables. You are heroes in boots. Therefore, in this new and unusual reality, our respect goes to all of you in dairy and beef farming, who once again, have shown your commitment to find solutions and keep societies’ dairy demands fulfilled, always keeping an eye on sustainability. Your work is invaluable and necessary, and these current events leave no doubts about it. At VikingGenetics, we thank you and support your work by doing our utmost to keep providing you with the best genetics, registration systems and services for your herds, wherever our companies and subsidiaries are (that includes of course, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany), or through our trustworthy distributors. Many of our distributors around the globe have also gone through difficult circumstances and have faced strict restrictions. Despite this, they are continuing to do a splendid job. The world’s population is now learning essential lessons, among them, the relevance of daily farming, which was more questioned than recognized before Covid-19. At VikingGenetics, we are also resilient and read the signs of the new times. More than ever, we want to continue to be your partner to keep the world running with the best tools for the future of farming. VikingGenetics is proud to introduce to you, our new Chief Executive Officer, Henrik Biilmann. You can learn more about his experience and his plans to add value and how to best support dairy and beef farming. Biilmann highlights the importance of VikingGenetics goals that strive to make life easier for farmers and for their customers. This issue also includes an interview with our new Beef Manager. With this new position, we are taking a solid step on our path to complement our services for cattle breeding. To face the challenge of population growth that requires more quality food, we are preparing our offer with the best genetics for beef cattle. Beef semen has become a complement to a successful dairy strategy when using the genomic test of females. You will also find articles about the Nordic tradition to breed for healthy, fertile, and resilient cattle, breeding that is currently paying off with excellent results that are now available for dairy farmers, no matter where in the world they are. You can peek into our quality levels when you read about our outstanding achievements in the international proofs of April all around the world. We are especially proud to tell you that the top ten red bulls in the UK Profitable Lifetime Index (£PLI) for Ayrshire are ALL VikingReds bulls. You will be happy to read about other dairy farmers whose passion, dedication and precision for breeding are giving back to them the herd of their dreams in Sweden, United Kingdom and Australia. Enjoy your reading in our new layout! Matthew Stott Country Manager UK & Ireland Contact our VikingGenetics team MATTHEW STOTT Country Manager UK & Ireland M +44 7470 932317 masto@vikinggenetics.com BRANDON MURDOCH Scotland Account Manager T +44 7816 314413 brmur@vikinggenetics.com 2 INNOVATIVE BREEDING MAY 2020 CHRIS STONE West Midlands/North West Senior Account Manager M +44 7967 597917 chsto@vikinggenetics.com DAN HALLIDAY North Wales/North West Account Manager M +44 7462 098538 dahal@vikinggenetics.com DANIEL HAYWARD Telesales Account Manager M +44 7384 402814 dahay@vikinggenetics.com JOANNA COX National Telesales Senior Account Manager T +44 7940 163974 jocox@vikinggenetics.com JOHN FORD East Midlands Account Manager M +44 7837 709644 jofor@vikinggenetics.com STUART GIBBONS North of England Account Manager M +44 7493 798275 stgib@vikinggenetics.com
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