Society News

Bluetongue - Latest News

Bluegrass wins the Jersey National Herds’ Competition for third successive time
10th November 2008
Barry and Jenny Daw have achieved the quite remarkable feat of winning the UK Jerseys National Herds’ Competition with their renowned ‘Bluegrass’ herd for the third time in a row. [more]

Profile on Ashley Fleming - Northern Ireland
10th November 2008
The first Jersey was purchased to form the Potterswalls Herd in 1970. [more]

World First at Borderway Black and White Sale
6th November 2008
Jersey enthusiasts will have the opportunity to select a first choice animal from the entire crop of 2008 heifer calves from the Fleming family’s Potterswalls Herd based at County Down, Northern Ireland. [more]

Andy Marshall (second left), share-farmer of the Loseley herd, receives the Lily Hill Trophy from Philip Kirkham, chairman of NMR, while Vernon Bartlett (herdsman) receives a certificate from Baroness Byford, RABDF President, as Alisdair Marshall looks on. A full farm report will be in the UK Jerseys magazine, January / February 2009.

UK Jerseys National Performance title goes to Devonshire herd
27 October 2008
First time entrants, Bruce and Jenny Ravenhill took the Performance section of the UK Jerseys National Herds’ Competition with their Whitenhill herd. A mere two and one-half points out of a possible 500 separated them from the Bluegrass entry. [more]

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Bluegrass wins the Jersey National Herds’ Competition for third successive time
17/09/08
Barry and Jenny Daw have achieved the quite remarkable feat of winning the UK Jerseys National Herds’ Competition with their renowned ‘Bluegrass’ herd for the third time in a row. [more]

Barlass Named Director For National All-Jersey Inc.
26/08/08
Marion Barlass, Janesville, Wisconsin, has been appointed Director at-large of National All-Jersey Inc., headquartered in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. [more]

launches online inbreeding service

Inbreeding percentages for individual animals as well as whole herd summaries will now be routinely included as part of the Herd Genetic Report, available free of charge to all Jersey milk recorded herds.

“It’s important to note that inbreeding is not a serious concern in Britain,” remarks geneticist Marco Winters, director of MDC breeding+. “But it is something every farmer should be aware of when making breeding decisions.

“UK levels for all breeds currently stand at around 2%,” he observes, “which is somewhat lower than those in North America, where inbreeding is closer to 5%. Only above 6% are levels considered to be critical.”

Farmers can see their herd’s inbreeding levels through the breeding+ section at www.mdc.org.uk where new users can register for a password before they can use the Herd Genetic Report. This report also shows genetic information on production and PLI (Profitable Lifetime Index).

Inbreeding arises when individuals which are related are bred together. The closer the relationship, the higher the level of inbreeding (see Table). The effects of inbreeding are to concentrate the breeding pool around fewer and fewer bloodlines.

A certain amount of inbreeding has historically been considered desirable as it allows sought-after traits to be ‘fixed’ and a particular line to breed ‘true to type’.

However, too much inbreeding can lead to reduced general health and fitness as well as production. It also increases the risk of undesirable recessive genes coming together, resulting in genetic defects being experienced.

Jerseys record highest production increase in NMR

In the milk recording year to the end of September 2007, Jerseys showed the highest increase in production of all breeds with an average now at 5635 kg milk, and annual improvement of 2.8 per cent; Jerseys average yield now exceeds Guernseys.

On a combined weight of fat and protein basis, Jerseys have climbed in to third spot, rising above British Friesian production, and achieving 87 per cent of the Holstein output, from cows which are only 70 per cent of the size.

Higher production has seen calving interval ease out to 406 days. The Board accepts that operating an extended calving regime can be a good policy. However, it must be managed rather than the result of poor heat detection or low animal fertility. To guard against the latter more emphasis is being put on bull and daughter fertility in ‘Jersey Sires’ semen selection.

Jerseys market share is up from 1.7 per cent in 1999 to 2.6 per cent in 2006 / 7.

The society’s clear breeding goals are designed to provide the strong foundation for the breed’s future.

Jersey milk consumption on the up

TNS research data reports increased liquid milk sales between January 07 - 08

It is very pleasing to see this upswing in Jersey and Guernsey consumption. It remains the smallest volume category of those recorded, so there is plenty of scope to go at in selling more