Carina Swartling´s sharp and profound knowledge and experience of a bull barn gleam in her current position as VikingGenetics´ new Barn Manager.
A love for animals came early for Carina Swartling. Despite being a city girl with no farming background from Linköping (in southeast Sweden), her care for dogs as a child soon developed into an undeniable interest in animals. This interest remains in the form of her career choice.
Meeting Carina prompts the attentive listener to discover layers of interest that compound a life that does not shy away from adventure, quite the opposite: it goes after it whenever possible, by riding a fantastic vehicle.
After high school and in order to follow the veterinarian profession, Carina enrolled herself in farming school. That involved direct contact with and management of animals on a farm. "I found my place, and I just wanted to work keeping the animals healthy".
Her curiosity and care for animals took her to a farm job. She went to work on dairy farms for several years before coming to VikingGenetics. "I started in 2008 as a relief worker in the barn, I had previously been milking cows, and the farm closed down, and I saw an ad in the paper for a summer job here in the barn."
And why cows instead of other animals? Cows, "they are funny in the way of humorous animals; they are individuals, and I think it's just nice to take care of them", she explains.
After that summer job, an employee went on sick leave, and she stayed some weeks longer. By autumn, she had taken a steady position that became available in the laboratory. "It was an exciting job in another way. To see that part of the company too and its connection with insemination and the doses was interesting".
In 2012, she returned to work in the barn. This closeness to the animals is significant to Carina. "We are taking very good care of the animals here. In all animal production, it is essential to do that, to have that state of mind: that they will always give us more back. Whatever they produce, if they produce milk or semen or fur or whatever, if we take care of them, they will be happier and produce better".
