BC Jersey Breeder Takes Part in Next Generation Conference in Ontario
posted May 19th, 2010

Adam Bouwman of Grandview Jerseys near Chilliwack was the BC representative at the recent successful Jersey-The Next Generation Young Adults Conference staged as part of Jersey Canada's Annual Meeting. The events were head-quartered in Brantford, Ontario in late March. In only its second year of existence the program is enjoying radical and exciting growth. After a beginning of 10 participants in 2009 at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan attendance tripled to more than 30 and almost required over-flow facilities!

As part of the AGM program Adam and a large number of other delegates attended the Ontario Spring Jersey and Holstein Shows at London and toured nine Brant County Jersey farms in one day taking advantage of one of the highest concentrations of Jerseys in Canada! Anita Norrish of Chimewood Jerseys, Chilliwack National director from BC and Jennifer Pretty of Grindrod served on the 2009/10 Next Generation committee.

At the same national Jersey annual meeting, Jeremy Devries of Sunshine Valley Jerseys and Jerseyland Organic Cheese at Grand Forks was one of five recipients of 2010 National Young Jersey Achiever Awards. The program has been in existence since 1990 and recognizes outstanding young Jersey owners between the ages of 20 and 40.

Two British Columbia Jerseys Record Highest Lifetime Production Totals Ever in the History of Jersey Canada!
posted May 18th, 2010

The Master Breeder Valtallina Jersey herd of Bob Anderlini and family of Aldergrove, BC has long been recognized as the source and home of highly productive and long-lived Jersey cows. Further justification for that distinction has just been announced by Jersey Canada. Two older members of the now-reduced Valtallina have just notched up new All Time Canadian Class Leading Lifetime Production Awards for Milk, Butterfat and Protein yields! What is truly impressive about these accomplishments is that one of the cows surpassed a milk yield record held by another former member of the Valtallina herd. And, all three of these cows are from the same cow family!

Valtallina Francine's 12 lactation totals of 128,541 kgs milk, 5346 fat and 4616 protein rank her first for milk and protein and second for lifetime fat by a close margin. These totals equate to 283,433 pounds of milk, 11,788 pounds of fat and 10,178 pounds of protein. Her milk total surpasses the 2002 record total of herd mate Valtallina J Fame set in 2002. Her protein yield bests that of former champion Rexlea Performing Hostess from Central Ontario. Francine will be 15 in early June and boasts five consecutive records over 10,300 kilograms of milk. She has also completed 9 consecutive records over 315 kilograms of protein. She is a GP daughter of former ABS Global sire Top Brass Babes Lad. Like her two long-lived stable mates Francine is a descendant of famed BC cow Regislawn Milady Fanfare and thus a direct descendant of the Marlu Milady family bred in New Jersey, USA.

Following close behind is Valtallina Marino Fancy who will be 15 in late July. Fancy, a Supreme EX-90-4E daughter of Semex sire Wilsonview Brook Marino has yielded 110,270 kgs of milk, an all time record fat production of 5357 kgs and 3951 kilos of protein in 12 lactations. Her fat yield surpasses that of Francine and also of the former butterfat lifetime Champion Elmvale Master's Kate who completed her long career in Eastern Ontario in 1992. Fancy has completed seven consecutive records over 430 kilograms of fat.

These cattle are a great credit to the cow family, to their breeders, to the renowned longevity and easy-keeping attributes of the Jersey breed and to the province of British Columbia!

BC herds rank highly for production on All-Canada lists!
posted May 18th, 2010

BC Jersey owners have long had a reputation for having milky, profitable herds. Superior productivity was very much in evidence in BC when Jersey Canada recently announced the highest herd averages for 2009!

Ranking 10th overall in Canada for composite fat plus protein BCAs with 47 Jersey lactations in a two breed free-stall herd were Gordon and Angela Ferguson of Enderby in the Okanagan Valley. Their Jerseys averaged almost 8,000 kgs of milk kissing 380 kgs of fat and 300 kilos of protein. Following right behind in 11th where the Barichello family of Barbros Jerseys at Langley in the Fraser Valley. The Fergusons ranked 15th for kilos of protein and 17th for fat. The Barichellos were 18th for kilos of protein.

Other BC herds making the top 25 for Canada were:

In addition, Valtallina Jerseys owned by the Anderlini and Datema families at Aldergrove ranked 11th for protein.

The Haambuckers family of Glorybound Holsteins and Jerseys at Enderby ranked 13th in Canada for most improvement in herd average BCAs.

Alberta Jersey becomes the first 15th generation Excellent Jersey
posted February 26th, 2010

On January 15, 2002, Norval Acres Lad Darlene became the first dairy cow of any breed in the world to become a fourteenth generation Excellent. She had been bred and born at Norval Acres Jersey Farm, owned by the McCaig family at Huntingdon in Western Quebec and was evaluated there. Since that momentous day, two American Holsteins have attained the status of being the first dairy cows in the world to be scored as 15th generation Excellents.

On January 14, 2010 a Jersey cow named Norval Acres Vision Donna became the world’s first Jersey cow and only the third dairy cow in the world to complete an unbroken string of 15 generations of Excellent scores. Donna was born at Norval Acres in March 2004. During the Norval Acres Dispersal sale in May 2005 she sold as short-bred heifer to Brenda J. Cupples of Glenhagan Jerseys, Thorsby, Alberta.

Read the rest of the press release here (Jersey Canada).

Annual Meeting of Manitoba Jersey Club
posted February 26th, 2010

Innovative thinking often yields valuable results! The Board of the Manitoba Jersey Cattle Club (MJCC) did some hard thinking about the future of their association in 2009. They landed on ideas for raising breed visibility and make their association’s work more effective. Foremost among those ideas was determining if they could combine the MJCC annual meeting with the annual Manitoba Dairy Conference which is held in early December in Winnipeg. Manitoba Milk and Manitoba Holsteins had already joined forces at this very well-attended event. Given a green light the MJCC roared ahead with vigour and on December 3rd the meeting became a successful reality. Attendance tripled that of recent years and brought a great group of Jersey owners and industry partners together.

Russell Gammon of Jersey Canada was invited to speak to the breakfast meeting. He presented a very upbeat message entitled “Celebrating The Jersey Miracle”. National Extension Agent, Jean-Marc Pellerin was present as he began a few days of successful extension work in the province. These national staffers manned a Jersey display at an associated large trade show. In addition production and classification awards were presented. National Director Matthew Graye updated members on actions by Jersey Canada.

A new MJCC Board for 2010 includes: Steven Smith, President; Henry Delichte, Secretary-Treasurer; Matthew Graye as National Director from Man/Sask and fellow directors - Linda Pelletier, Alain Remond, Harold Sweetnam, Fred Schweigert and Bradley Bazinet. At an evening banquet attended by approximately 500 people MJCC awards for the highest herd average and top classification herd were awarded to the Bill and Tanja Van Dorp and Henry and Meredith Delichte families, respectively. This shift in approach by the MJCC Board has reaped immediate visibility benefits for the breed and will continue to do so! Bravo for taking a great step ahead!

More details in the Feb/Mar 2010 Jersey West Regional News Page (PDF)