Celebrating the top bulls of 2024

On Thursday, March 13^th, VikingGenetics celebrated the top-performing bulls of 2024 at a special ceremony honouring their breeders at our bull station in Denmark.

This annual event was a memorable tribute to 2024’s top bulls and their breeders. Breeders of eleven bulls were invited to our headquarters in Assentoft, representing Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

We celebrated our top dairy and beef bulls, recognizing their high value to the genetic progress of Nordic dairy cows and the specialist beef-on-dairy programme. 

During the event, a special parade showcased the bulls to the breeders. They also heard from our Breeding and Product Managers about the bulls’ breeding traits and values, behaviour, performance, offspring worldwide, and more.

Seeing the bulls and hearing about their successes was a great source of pride for the farmers. This was also a special reunion for many, as the last time they saw the bulls was when they left the farms as calves, some up to four years ago.

The bulls celebrated are among our best-selling in 2024 and are still in high demand worldwide. Some of them have already had a great, positive impact on the cattle populations of VikingGenetics’ home countries — Denmark, Finland, and Sweden — and international markets, and others will do so in the coming year.

Three of the bulls originate from the VikingEmbryo programme and were not born on their breeders’ farms. Instead, their dams were flushed at the Hollola and Risbak donor stations, and the bulls were born at other recipient herds. They are: VH KaratRC, VR Vinci P, and VJ Sultan.

In addition to celebrating the most valuable bulls, two legendary bulls — VH Crown and VR Vimo — were immortalized and introduced to VikingGenetics’ Hall of Fame.

These two bulls will never be forgotten by the breeding community. Thanks to their immense contributions, farmers worldwide recognize them for their exceptional offspring, including animals for VikingGenetics and other AI and genetic companies. They will continue to appear in the pedigrees of new top animals for years to come.

VikingGenetics' CEO Louise Helmer and CBPO Lars Nielsen also participated in the event. They welcomed the breeders to our HQ and highlighted the impressive efforts and passion for breeding that produced these world-class bulls.

Continue reading below to learn more about the bulls.

(Charley x SB Silver)
I/S Hedelund, Arne and Tage Christensen, Denmark

With over 10,000 daughters in the Nordic countries, 3,200 in Germany, and many more worldwide, VH Crown (Charley x SB Silver) has left an incredible mark in Holstein breeding. Among his top daughters are THD Despania from the Netherlands and SAT Agosto Darriba Selma, formerly Spain’s #1 ICO cow.

VH Crown also delivered incredible value to VikingGenetics, siring VH Cronos, VH Celtic, and VH Cooley, seven heifers used in the VikingEmbryo programme, and 21 bulls in Germany. He is the grandsire of VH Rahim, VH Cosmus, VH ColtRC, VH Rossi, VH Fumo, VH Liewood, and 17 others.

Bred by Arne and Tage Christensen at the I/S Hedelund herd in Denmark, his dam produced an average of 16,200 kg of milk with 4.1 % fat and 3.6 % protein – a total of 1,250 kg of components per year. She was classified as 91-90-89-EX91.