Why Jerseys ? March 12th, 2010 | News | Sam | No comments U.S. Jerseys are the most profitable, adaptable and responsive dairy producers in the world. A Profitable Product, “With the Jersey, we have an animal that is smaller, uses fewer natural resources and produces a small carbon footprint. We have a cow with a longer productive life that produces a more nutrient-rich milk that consumers are demanding and are willing to pay for.” James Ahlem, President, National All-Jersey Inc. The dairy industry has entered a new age. These are times when quality matters again, when consumers are looking for a better glass of milk and more choices in quality cheeses, when dairy producers are looking for every possible efficiency to counter shrinking profit margins, and when everyone is more sensitive to the state of the environment around us.Jerseys are uniquely right for these times. Jerseys naturally produce the highest quality milk for human food. Compared to average milk, a glass of all-Jersey milk has greater nutritional value: 15% to 20% more protein, 15% to 18% more calcium, and 10% to 12% more phosphorous, along with considerably higher levels of an essential vitamin, B12. And because of that, it tastes better. “People tell us that our milk, even the skim milk, has so much more flavor than other milk,” says Harvey Peeler, a South Carolina-based processor of All-Jersey® milk products from Bush River Jerseys. “The reason is because of the Jersey cow and the fact that there are more solids-non-fat, protein, calcium and lactose in her milk compared to other breeds.” Jersey milk will yield more cheese (from 20% to 25%), butter (over 30% more) and nonfat dry milk (almost 10%) than average milk, and at a lower cost per pound of product. Jerseys produce less waste for producers to deal with (about 32% less manure and 28% less total nitrogen per cow per day than the larger breeds), and also leave the cheese maker with less “white water” to dispose of. A naturally concentrated milk that meets today’s requirements for quality, production and manufacturing efficiency, and environmental friendliness—these are just a few reasons Jerseys are making dairy business owners sit up and take notice. “The sole office of the Jersey cow, broadly speaking, is to produce the largest possible amount of rich and highly-colored cream from a given amount of food.”Jersey Herd Register, Volume 1, 1871 The Jersey breed was developed so that dairy producers would have “less cow to feed, more cow to milk.” U.S. Jerseys produce, on average, more than 16 times their body weight in milk each lactation. “Jerseys are able to capture the energy that they eat over and above their body weight, and put it into milk,” explains James Tully, Ph.D., PAS, of Pine Creek Nutrition Service, Inc. in California. The secret of Jersey productivity is that while Jerseys tip the scales at roughly 75% of Holsteins’ body weight, they eat 80% of the intake of Holsteins. “It means we’re able to get more pounds of energy-corrected milk (ECM) per pound of dry matter than the Holsteins would give. From what we’ve seen, the numbers approach 1.6 lbs. ECM (0.73 kg.) per pound of intake for a Jersey versus numbers like 1.45 to 1.5 (0.65–0.68 kg.) for Holstein cows.” “When I was in school, my father told me that we’d milk the cow that makes the most money,” recalls Jim Huffard, a consulting nutritionist who also operates Huffard Dairy Farms in southwestern Virginia. “It didn’t matter if she was purple, green or whatever—that’s what he wanted to milk. My father said, ‘Let’s take this pile of feed and run it through both cows and see who can make us the most money.’” Taking a fixed quantity of feed—2,000 pounds—and national DHI production data and product prices, Huffard pencils out the gross income from a Holstein milking 73 lbs. (33 kg.) at 3.6% fat and 3.1% protein and a Jersey at 52 lbs. (23.6 kg.), with component levels of 4.6% fat and 3.6% protein.“With 2,000 pounds of feed (907.5 kg.), you can produce 294 lbs. (133.4 kg.) of cheese from Holsteins, or 337 lbs. (152.9 kg.) from Jerseys. At current farm prices, the income from that amount of feed is $456 for Holsteins, or $522 for Jerseys. Send that feed through a Jersey, you have an advantage of $66, or almost 15% more income. “That 2,000 pounds of feed costs the same regardless of whether it’s in a Holstein or Jersey, so we’re comparing dollars to dollars,” Huffard explains. “I’ve decided now which is the breed I want to run that feed through.” “The advantages of Jerseys are financial,” agrees Dan Bansen, owner-operator of the 1,600-cow Forest Glen dairies located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. “We haven’t always been all Jersey. When we bought (Forest Glen Oaks), we bought it with 200 Holsteins and we were milking about 200 Jerseys on the home farm. We sat down and we pencilled everything out. We figured out how this farm was going to work with 200 Holsteins and it wasn’t near what we had figured, because we didn’t figure how much less we were going to get for the milk and how much more feed they were going to eat. The feed was the thing that surprised us the most. “The amount you get out financially is much different and is much more beneficial with Jersey cows,” he continues. “You can say we have our downfalls. We don’t get as much for bull calves, but we don’t have calving problems. We don’t have reproductive problems. There are way more advantages than disadvantages with Jerseys. “Although we like Jerseys,” Bansen says, “if they weren’t the most productive breed, I’m sorry, but we probably wouldn’t be with them.” Advantages That Go To The Bottom Line “Our Jersey cow can withstand the rigors of commercial dairy production. She calves early and on her own. She produces at a high level and breeds back to do it all over again.” David Chamberlain, President, American Jersey Cattle Association Everything you need for a successful dairy business can be found in a Jersey cow. Jerseys adapt to every management system that has been designed for dairying. They thrive in confinement barns and dry lot operations, in large herds and small ones. Jerseys also adapt to different feeding systems, from complete feed–TMR programs to management-intensive grazing. And, there are no climatic or geographic barriers for Jerseys. They are favored in the subtropic region of the Deep South, and also the arid climes of the United States. Jersey owners consistently remark that even when the temperature rises above 100º Fahrenheit, the Jerseys will be at the feed bunks or grazing. Jerseys mature more quickly. When a dairy heifer matures earlier, she can be bred at a younger age (and smaller size). She’ll then enter the milking herd sooner. The bottom line: Jerseys are quicker to generate income for a dairy producer. In studies at Virginia Tech, purebred Jersey heifers were observed to reach puberty at an average of 39.9 weeks (10 months) of age, eight Body weight at puberty averaged 425 lbs. (193 kg.) for the Jersey heifers, compared to 665 lbs. (301 kg.) for the Holsteins. Jerseys have the lowest average age at first calving among all breeds. Jerseys are renown for their ease of calving. Fewer calving problems reduces worry, labor and veterinary costs. Fewer than 1% of Jersey heifers experience problems with their first calf, while nearly 8% of Holstein had difficult calvings requiring assistance according to studies by AIPL scientists. Studies in Florida dairy operations determined that Jersey heifers have fewer stillbirths than Holstein heifers (9.11% versus 15.65%) and subsequently less metritis (4.22% versus 14.17%). Says David Endres, who started his Wisconsin dairy with Holsteins, but switched to Jerseys: “Calving ease is still one of our biggest things. We just love it.” After calving, Jerseys return to their heat cycle sooner and, just as they did as heifers, show estrus more vigorously and remain in heat longer. At Virginia Tech, Jersey cows exhibited estrus for an average of 8.9 hours, compared to 7.4 hours for Holstein cows. The Jersey cows were mounted 9.5 times during any estrus, compared to an average of 6.9 times among Holstein cows. Jerseys breed back earlier, with fewer services per conception. These facts are even more important during the times dairy cows are subjected to heat stress. A longitudinal study by University of Florida researchers determined that Jersey cows had fewer days to first service, from first service to conception, and a shorter calving interval than Holsteins. Similarly, short-term breeding studies at North Carolina State University revealed that Jersey cows had higher conception than Holsteins when managed in the same herd. AIPL studies reveal that across the lifespan, Jerseys have the shortest average calving interval (390 days, versus an average of 404 for Holsteins). And across their lifetimes, Jerseys average 3.2 calvings, compared to 2.8 calvings for Holsteins. It’s hard to overstate what the Jersey’s reproductive advantages can mean to the bottom line “Reproduction impacts the bottom line in significant areas, like having more calves to sell or grow with. Jim Tully. But above all, he says, “Milk is a by-product of reproduction. Having more fresh cows, more often, means more milk
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 23:49:34 +0000
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