A Reflection on Change

In the days leading up to Christmas an American friend forwarded a very neat and old booklet to us. The booklet was published by the then American Jersey Cattle Club. Back in the day, the AJCC was head-quartered in New York City. When this booklet was published the AJCC offices were on West 23rd street in Manhattan.
The booklet represented a celebration of the Excellent Jersey cow. In fonts in heavy use in the era the proclamation on the cover read: " A Jersey "Excellent" is the Living Model of the Cow Beautiful."
The subtitle for the booklet was: Jerseys on Parade.

All photos in the booklet carried the stamp of famed cattle photographers Strohmeyer and Carpenter.

The booklet was created over half a century ago. Included in the contents are photos of 50 Excellent cows and four Excellent proven sires. Production credits are listed for each cow.

And what stands out in the booklet when viewed with 2010 eyes?
The following:

-The cows have proportionately more fore udder and less rear udder than today's Jersey.

-In fact, there is a lot less "bloom", fullness and capacity to the rear udders of most of the cows.

-The trait rear teats too far back we sometimes see today is not at all obvious.

-The animals carry considerably more body condition than today's cow.

-Being able to discern the rib cage is rare.

-Necks are generally shorter and thicker than today.

-All cows are horned.

-If one flips through the booklet and looks at photos first then the cows that take your eye because of a longer, leaner neck, some angulation and visibility of ribs, fuller rear udder than average-more of the "today's cow" look are often the heaviest producers.

-Most every cow tests over 5.0% by a good margin and some over 6.0% but with less yield than we're used to in this era.

-Two cows I think most would appreciate today are Bindle Sleeping Souvenir who made over 850 pounds of fat at six years of age (305 day or 365 days??) or over 380 kgs of fat and Zenia's Sparkling Ivy who offered up 16,627 lbs milk, 916 pounds of fat at 5.5% fat.

One of the important parts of going forward is knowing where we've come from and if possible why.

We've come a long way...what is the right way ahead? Cows as sharp as we have today, fuller rear udders? Great questions!

What is an Excellent today? What will an Excellent be in 2015? 2025?



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Re-writing the Jersey history books!

As the Christmas season reaches it full height we can add even more reasons for celebrating in the realms of Jerseydom!
Recent number-crunching has revealed two great presents to close off 2010!

By Tuesday this week-that would be December 21-registrations had roared past the 1985 total and plunked us at the highest total since 1969! Subsequent processing has upped the total and we are now close to leap-frogging over the 1969 total! Whether or not we make the next hurdle is largely immaterial! 2010 has been a great year anyway! This year now closing has offered up more proof that the Jersey breed in Canada is on the move upward in a most powerful way!

Additionally some digging through annual meeting reports from decades gone by indicates that our 2010 total for classifications will be the highest ever in breed history in Canada! Classification of Jerseys in Canada started exactly seven decades before the year now waiting to be born! Yes, in 1941! And in all those 70 years there has never been a year like 2010 for classification activity!

Positive momentum is encouraging! Great accomplishments build a foundation of exceptional potential for the future! Feel the excitement and grab hold of it!

Thanks, thanks, thanks to all who have made this possible!

New date and location for the Ontario Spring Show 2011

We have just received word from the organizing committee of some revised information regarding the 2011 Ontario Spring Show. For the first time this long-standing annual event will be held at the new fairgrounds in Ancaster, Ontario near Hamilton. Dates of Wednesday, March 30th (just prior to the Jersey Canada Annual Meeting at Alliston) for the Jersey Show and Youth Showmanship Classes and Thursday, March 31st for the associated Holstein show have been established.

Rexlea Jerseys hosts international visitors

 

International visitors from Thailand and Indonesia visited Rexlea Jerseys in Schomberg, Ontario recently to learn about dairy farming in Canada, as well as about the Jersey breed in particular.  Rexlea Jerseys currently maintains a herd average of close to 9600 kgs of milk in 305 days while having superior conformation animals as well.  Thanks to the Sheardowns for showcasing Canadian Jerseys!

2010 a great year for registry activity!

Just a few notes after reviewing registry statistics up to December 1st....

• We are about 7% ahead of 2009 on registrations!  It looks likely that we will have our best registrations totals since 1969!
  
• We need 562 registrations to reach our goal...so be sure to send in your registrations before the end of the year!
  
• We are now receiving about 60% of registrations electronically!  Let's keep pushing this higher!
  
• We are on track to have a similar number of members as 2009, the highest year since 1967!
  
• We have had five consecutive years with over 130 new herd prefixes registered!  Lots of new Jersey breeders across the country!

Nominees sought for Jersey Canada Awards!

NOW is the time for you or your local, provincial or regional Jersey association to make nominations for the major Jersey Canada awards that will be presented during the annual meeting.

Here's a listing of awards for which nominations are due by January 1, 2011.
 

• National Young Jersey Achievers
  
• Honorary Life Membership
  
• Ralph J. Barichello Memorial Award
  
• Distinguished Service Award
  
• Certificate of Appreciation

A brief description of each award can be found in the Awards and Results section on the Jersey Canada website.  In addition a historical list of previous recipients of each award can be found in the same section.  All nominations must be accompanied by a resume of the relevant accomplishments of the nominee.

Nominations for the Barichello award for an outstanding contribution to agriculture in Canada are received from provincial and regional Jersey associations. In all other cases, one can self-nominate, an individual can nominate someone else, or Jersey asosciations at the local, provincial or regional level can submit nominations.

For the first time, recipients of both the Master Breeder and Constructive Breeder awards will be selected automatically from within the Jersey Canada database based on a points system. Therefore no nominations are needed for these awards.

Nominations for the following award are due by January 31, 2011:

Youth of Distinction:  again described in the awards and results section on the Jersey Canada website. Nominations for this award are received from the provincial and regional Jersey associations.

Tim Sargent will be the new Jersey Canada director for Central Ontario

With Larry Sheardown completing his term as director for Central Ontario after the April 2010 Annual Meeting, a new director for Central Ontario was sought with nominations due earlier in the fall.  Two people were nominated:  Tim Sargent of Enniskillen Jerseys, Enniskillen, ON and Greg Mortson of Mordale Jerseys, Oro-Medonte, ON.

Following an election held by secret ballot and finalized in late November, we are able to announce that Tim Sargent will be the new director for Central Ontario, starting in April 2011. 

Jennifer Vander Meulen wins 2011 Jersey Educational Travel Award

The President and Council of the World Jersey Cattle Bureau are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2011 Jersey Educational Travel Award (JETA) which sponsors five young farmers to attend the 19th International Conference of the WJCB in New Zealand in 2011.

Outstanding applications were received from each of the five regions of the Bureau: Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania.  James Godfrey, Secretary of the WJCB said 'The selection committee were posed with a very difficult decision selecting these five worthy winners from what was an exceptional list of applicants'.  The winners are:

Jenny Evans, from Mozambique, in the African region.  Jenny took her first AI course when she was only twelve years old and is responsible for providing the first fresh milk, processed dairy products and cheese Gouda Gold direct to the public.  Jenny and her husband Brendon own a farm in Mozambique with a herd of over 400 Jerseys and Holsteins from which they process nearly 2000 litres which is then processed into cheese, milk and yogurts.

Benoit Guioullier, from France in the European region.  Beniot is very much involved in promoting the Jersey breed in France.  He is the President of the ‘Jersey Breeders Syndicate of Western France’, participates in various working groups.  Benoit is currently on the family run farm when their herd of Jerseys of 130 milking cows are producing over 700,000 litres a year.

Mariano Storani, from Argentina in the Latin American region.  Mariano is currently studying veterinary medicine.  Mariano’s family has been in the industry for 35 years, his grandfather introduced Jerseys to their herd 23 years ago.

Jennifer Vander Meulen, from Canada in the North American region.  Jennifer is a co-owner and co-operator of Avonlea Genetics Limited.  Marketing the Jersey breed has become a passion for Jennifer and her husband Andrew.  Jennifer has now sold embryos to 26 different countries and actively volunteers for various committees and fundraising for the Jersey breed.

Troy Mauger, from Australia in the Oceania region.  Troy is currently a member of the board for Jersey Australia Committee with special responsibility for promoting the breed.  Troy milks 340 cows in partnership with his parents in New South Wales and also breeds and raises bull calves for the dairy with his wife Meagan.