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Bull semen: Important to move with the times
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G M & A J Harrison is a dairy farming business in the north of England. We farm Jersey cows and supply Jersey milk to our local dairy to produce cheese.
I am 36 years old and see a great future for Jersey cattle here in Yorkshire. However, we must always look to the future and accept change readily in order to survive the challenging and volatile markets that prevail.
Prior to 2001 we farmed Holstein cattle; sadly we had our livestock culled as part of a contiguous cull during the horrors of foot-and-mouth. This was an extremely difficult time for us but from bad we were able to draw good in the form of a completely fresh start.
Having looked at our environment we decided that the modern Jersey cow had everything that we were looking for in our new business. This included:
lThe size of the animal (smaller than the Holstein yet still a good strong dairy animal).
lLongevity – the modern Jersey still outlives the Holstein by many lactations.
lVolume of litres produced without losing quality – the modern Jersey still produces fewer litres of milk than its rival the Holstein but the superior quality makes it a viable option.
We are very happy with our herd of Jersey cows and we don’t feel that we have at all compromised our situation or the breed by using genetics from the best choices available around the world.
We use sires from Jersey, Canada, USA and Australia. The sire chosen depends very much on the dam and what will complement her the most.
In order for the Jersey cow to survive, it is important to move with the changing times we are in. The new genetics do provide more milk, but at the same time they allow the farmer to be more efficient at his job, something we are continually being told we need to be.
In short, the modern Jersey does not destroy business but allows us to continue in a more profitable and less stressful manner. After all, it is simple, if we can keep ten cows producing 5,000 why would we want to have to keep 15 cows to produce the same?
The answer is we wouldn’t and in order for the breed to survive it needs to remember its roots but at the same time compete in an extremely competitive world.
Manor Farm, Thornton Rust, Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
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