Ben and Allie King are herd owning sharemilkers in North Canterbury. They believe the misconception with Jersey cows is they are smaller animals and produce less milk. Ben and Allie have proven with good genetics, Jersey cows can do high production, provide a high BW, high fertility, and low vet costs option with less mating intervention, less lameness, less heat stress, less calving issues and exceptional efficiency well suited to today’s farming environment i.e. lower emissions intensity.

“The average liveweight of our herd is 480 kg doing 115% kg MS per kg LWT.”

The biggest opportunity for reductions in GHG intensity and total GHGs is through milking higher performing cows. These are cows that can hit 100% of their body weight in 240-250 days lactation as an average. If we can also get the replacement rate down to less than 18% through improved reproductive performance and reduce unplanned wastage, we would have a higher percentage of mature cows and fewer costs associated with raising replacements.

Glen and Marie Todd are embracing the challenge of taking on the family farm and moving their herd back to Jersey.

The Jersey cow is playing a key role in the couples farming system and future aspirations with greater feed efficiency, ease of calving, lighter footprint and better health and fertility. A true system 1-3 farm in NZ is more suited to the Jersey cow.

“Our customers want to know about the farms and the animals that produce their milk, they’re interested in the provenance of their food, and they want whole products that haven’t been over-processed. Plus they want to be able to taste a real difference too, which is an easy box to tick with Jersey milk”

“Pouarua Farms are about profitability not productivity so Jersey animals are a no-brainer for us and if we could swap our FX herds for Jersey tomorrow and farm all 4700 animals as J12 plus, we would.”

New findings are challenging the notion that Jersey genetics are less profitable when it comes to dairy beef says Waikato farmer and member of Jersey Advantage Ben Watson.

Presenting at the recent Jersey NZ conference in Invercargill, Watson highlighted how Jersey blood in dairy beef has recently been proven to hold some advantages when crossed with quality beef genetics.

In Jim and Debra Kirkham’s Waikato based farming operation Jerseys are outperforming the other breeds.

The 582-cow Jersey herd, which is part of the wider Kirkham group, outperformed both their Friesian and crossbreed counterparts across a range of key performance indicators including production per hectare, production per cow, and farm working expenses.

Jersey cows are not normally synonymous with high input systems, but one farming couple are proving that Jerseys can hold their own under any system.

The joint venture purchase of a 215ha dairy farm at Makarewa, Southland is a "game-changer" for the Jersey breed, says joint venture Chair Julie Pirie.  

Farmer advocacy group Jersey Advantage and breed society, Jersey NZ have entered into the joint venture - Jerseyland Farms - each holding a 25% share, along with five commercial investors who each hold a 10% share.

Almost 18 years ago Shane Ardern drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest a proposed emissions tax. Hundreds of farmers supported his protest and the tax was abandoned. Fast forward to 2021 and you could be forgiven for having a case of déjà vu. Only today we’ve traded protests for working groups and commissions, reports, and committees. The debate may have progressed, but it’s no less important for farmers to have a voice at the table.

A focus on creating a simple, profitable farming operation with an efficient Jersey herd is helping Zach Mounsey to grow his dairying business.

Zach, who sharemilks 400 Jersey cows on 133ha at Te Kawa near Otorohanga, was the most profitable Waikato 50/50 sharemilker in Dairybase for 2018.

Four generations have farmed on John Totty’s 465-hectare property at Staveley, mid-Canterbury with Jersey cows featuring prominently throughout the years.

With the resurgence of fat prices, the popularity of A2 milk, the growth in once-a-day (OAD) and variable milking routines, warmer temperatures, and an increasing focus on efficiency and environmental footprint, the Jersey breed is well placed to meet the challenges of the future.

In a little over ten years Christine and Fraser Macbeth have gone from having their first contract cow to getting five bulls into sire proving schemes this year and becoming the highest production worth herd in the country.

Ross & Kristy Conder are not milking your typical Southland herd. The successful farming couple 50/50 share milk an 840 cow, predominantly Jersey herd at Otapiri, near Winton.

The sight of a largely Jersey herd is less common in the area and the couple says that they are busting the myth that a bigger, blacker cow is needed to be profitable in the South.

Sophia Clark didn’t think she would end up a dairy farmer but a season milking Jersey cows showed her that a career in farming could deliver both a business and a lifestyle.

Sophia and her partner Aaron Mills, are 50/50 share milkers at Paengaroa, Te Puke where they milk a herd of 550 elite Jersey cows. Sophia says the herd, which is in the top 1% of herds across all breeds based on breeding worth (BW), is perfectly suited to the farm.

Farmers up and down the country are turning to Jersey beef as a profitable sideline.

Long known for its superior marbling, taste, and tenderness, Jersey Beef is gaining popularity with consumers locally and in international markets who are seeking out quality, grass-fed beef.

In Jersey circles, a lot is spoken about how efficient the Jersey cow is at converting food into profit and how easy she is on the environment compared with the other breeds and crosses. However, when advocating for the breed, often in the presence of non-Jersey farmers, it is important to be able to back up these statements with facts and be able to point people in the direction of research findings.

A farmer group promoting Jersey cows says stock and semen sales indicate the breed is on the rise.

Improving the reproductive performance of a herd by getting more cows in-calf is a key way to cut farm emissions says Stephen Sing, Jersey Advantage member.