Jersey - The Milk Solids Leader!

The Jersey breed continues to be the champion in the production of milk with high percentages of fat and protein - the components that the producer is paid on! Breed averages are 4.8% fat and 3.85% protein, notably higher than industry average. In turn, this means a higher price per liter of milk sold!

Getting maximum value out of each litre of milk!
Adrian Haeni of Lone Pine Jerseys, Didsbury, Alberta notes that his 100 cow Jersey herd is averaging 5.17% fat and 3.91% protein, resulting in a price per litre of about $0.96! Many other breeders across the country have occasionally seen milk prices at or above the dollar per litre mark, a noticeable increase from the average milk price!

Avoid SNF ratio issues!
Dairy producers with Jerseys also routinely avoid any penalties associated with the ratio of solids non-fat to fat (SNF), due to the increased level of fat produced per litre. Breed average SNF:F ration for Jerseys is 1.97, comfortably below benchmarks in all provinces. Pierre Martin of Elmsmead Farm in Shefford, Quebec relates that not only do his Jerseys not receive any penalty due to their lower SNF:F ratio, but he receives an incentive for having a ratio notably lower than the provincial average! Combined with the lower transport costs associated with shipping a more concentrated product, Jerseys help maximize the value of your milk cheque!

An Efficient Milk Producer!
Jerseys are a physically smaller cow, requiring less feed to get them to first calving than larger breeds, and subsequently requiring less intake just to meet basic metabolic maintenance needs once in production. The average Jersey cow will eat approximately 80% as much dry matter (DM) as a Holstein cow, despite often being less than 75% as big of an animal. If you adjust kilograms of milk solids produced per day by DM intake, Jerseys produce more per unit of feed than the industry average! Going one step further, if you look at the kilograms of milk solids produced in 305 days per kilogram of body weight, the 450 kg Jersey cow comes in at 1.23, while the industry average cow (at 700 kgs in size) would only be at 0.97!

Jerseys are also efficient in the fact that decreased feed needs results in a smaller land base required, as well as fewer costs in harvesting and storing feed, and less manure to spread.