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VikingNews UK 04 2016
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13 november 2016 | viking
new
s jan andresen is in charge of the vikinggenetics interna- tional (vgi) sales to ireland, germany, croatia, poland, ita- ly and
new
zealand. he is also an important link to viking- genetics? subsidiary in australia, vgau. working at home at his family farm when he was very young, and being a breeding advisor for more than four years, has helped jan andresen to understand the challenges the dairy
farmers
face every day. he has also participated in the design of the vikrank, the
new
tool that helps
farmers
pick the best bulls that suit their needs. what do your
markets
have in common? they are very different, but ireland,
new
zealand and australia have season calvings and are extremely pas- ture-based and the herds are nearly year round outside in the case of
new
zealand and australia. in these coun- tries, we can provide our services almost in the same way. in poland, there are many small family farms as well as big companies. croatia has big companies that own most of the farms. how about the rest of your
markets
? germany and italy are a bit similar. many family farms in these countries. tradition is very important in germany. moreover, a big challenge is to go from focus on type to cows that are more commercial. our cows actually make more money for
farmers
. are the
farmers
in your
markets
basically selecting for production and health? in general, farms that are more commercial are focusing on business and need a good, strong, profitable cow and that is what we at vikinggenetics can deliver; healthy cows with high production. what breed is the most popular in these
markets
? in ireland, we mainly sell vikingholsteins. in
new
zealand, vikingred and vikingjersey are popular. our vikingred is incredibly strong on mastitis resistance and in calving traits, which are important factors in seasonal calving areas like ireland,
new
zealand and australia. there you need cows that get pregnant in time and calve easily. where do
farmers
put most focus when selecting for health? in croatia, we primarily sell vikingholstein with focus on interview with jan andresen, export manager vikinggenetics mastitis resistance. meantime in poland, the largest hol- stein market in europe, we want to promote our viking- holstein with bulls like vh clark, whose daughters are reducing digital dermatitis incidence by 50%. he also in- creases fertility in the herd. are italy and germany also mainly holstein
markets
? we sell a lot of vikingholstein in germany. our sales on vikingjersey are still small but increasing well. we have started to sell based on our nordic total merit (ntm). and in italy they use procross to produce good cheese. where do you put extra attention when you sell on these
markets
? for sure, it is that we are prepared to see what challenges the dairy
farmers
have in the different
markets
. i like to lis- ten to the sales team, the distributors and the dairy
farmers
and really understand their challenges. then, i can look more into what is the best solution for them: what kind of bull should i pick, and what traits should we focus on. is this about building strong relationships with your customers? there are different situations in ireland, croatia or ger- many, and that is why we want to be as close as possible to our
markets
with an open mind and open eyes to un- derstand what we can do. that´s how we work. ?an open mind is essential when working on different
markets
? export manager jan andresen together with vh clark. andresen was breeding advisor in the herd that bred vh clark, and together with the herd owner decided on the mating leading to vh clark - top daughter proven holstein bull. by verónica löfgren, vikinggenetics
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