For Jakob Petersen, breeding is about optimizing production. He was looking to modernize the farm he took over from his father and this mindset lead him to breed a new bull for the VikingHolstein breeding programme. VH Mario P is the first bull bought from Petersen's farm.
When cattle breeders in the future hear the name Super Mario, they will not be referring to the Italian-inspired character from a Nintendo game. Instead they will think of a bull from Denmark. Jakob Petersen is the breeder of one of the latest top bulls: VH Mario P, a genomic bull with gNTM +29.
This is the first time that Petersen has sold a bull to the VikingHolstein programme. "It's my first time, so it feels nice. This is very good”, says Jakob. His main focus is on the daily operations and milk production, so this outstanding result from one of his bulls came as a surprise.
"The only thing I demand is that we have animals with good feet and legs, udder conformation that fits the robots and that the animals also have good longevity", Petersen says.
VH Mario P ticks all the boxes related to production. The production index is 119, the Fat % index 120 and Protein % 111. The health traits are also top level with General health and Longevity leading these traits. (Breeding values from October 2020)
