Little Brown Cow, Big Profit

They breed back fast! I have no calving problems. They eat less. Easier to work with. I can calve them in sooner. Nutrient dense milk. Feed efficiency. These are just some of the things I hear across the country when customers share why they milk Jerseys. The growth of the Jersey breed has been on a rapid and steady increase for the past decade for one basic reason = EFFICIENCY. In a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, A comparison of the environmental impact of Jersey compared with Holstein milk for cheese production, it was found that the Jersey cow has a 20% reduction in total carbon footprint when compared to their Holstein counterpart. This is huge. This topic was one of many covered at the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) annual meeting this past summer. Breed updates included AJCA recording an all-time record high for 2012 Jersey registrations (103,345), and they are now on track to have an even better year in 2013. Genomic females evaluated in 2013 are currently 56% higher than this point last year. In addition, Jersey breed growth nation-wide is at an all-time high and growing at a rapid pace. It is estimated the current Jersey population is over 850,000 head which is about 9.25% of the total U.S. cow population. This growth is expected to accelerate over the next few years. One of the biggest indicators of breed growth comes from domestic semen sales. Based on NAAB numbers, domestic Jersey semen sales have also seen a drastic increase in the last couple years. With the 2012 numbers in, Jersey semen now accounts for 10.8% of the U.S. market share. With this kind of breed growth, comes big breed goals. AJCA has announced they have a goal for Jerseys to become 25% of the U.S. dairy population by the year 2020. The bottom-line, take-away message from Neal Smith, Executive Secretary of the AJCA, was, “Efficiency drives profitability. Profitability leads to breed growth. Breed growth leads to opportunity.” Genex is committed to our Jersey lineup and serving our customers needs in this exciting time of Jersey breed growth. Remember, little brown cow = big profit! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Leah James is our U.S. Jersey Marketing Manager.  James grew up on a family dairy farm and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education. She has since worked within the artificial insemination industry and for the American Jersey Cattle Association. Today, she and her husband also operate a 125-cow dairy consisting of registered Holsteins, Jerseys and Milking Shorthorns