Genomic testing is now being successfully used to help select those sires. JerseyGenome has operated for 11 years and is a joint venture between Jersey NZ and CRV AmBreed. It aims to identify potential bull mothers and generate sires that will enhance the future of the Jersey breed.
Tony and Lesley Landers own the 128ha Glenui Stud at Kaupokonui in Taranaki where they milk 370-380 Jersey cows. He is a JerseyGenome committee member.
Each year a number of animals go through the genome testing programme. Jersey NZ receives a report of the top 900 registered Jersey heifer calves mapped on breeding worth (BW).
Those calves go through a pre-selection process and numbers are whittled down.
“Some criteria must be met. This season many calves were from a bull called Triple Star so we took only his top calves, which got us down to 700,” Landers says.
“We then talk with our breeders to determine whether their animals are available to go through JerseyGenome. Some don’t want to or others have contract-mated calves or for various reasons they are unavailable.”
That selection process reduces the numbers to 400. Each breeder then takes hair samples from their selected calves, which are sent to CRV for genomic testing. The calves’ genomic tests are compared to their parent average.
The working group then does another selection process. Each heifer’s score is added up and it goes into yes, no and maybe categories.
Last year CRV tested 250 and this year 400. It is the most to have gone through the genomic testing programme in a single season. Historically about 50-70 heifers make the final selection.
“Originally, becoming part of the JerseyGenome programme was an avenue for me to see how my breeding compared to other breeders,” Landers says.
“The genomic test is a good indication but it doesn’t always work out. That’s what makes breeding so interesting. It’s not just a case of putting your best cow to the best bull because it doesn’t always work that way.”
Breeders receive a genomic test for each animal. The cost is negligible because most farmers usually have only one or two animals accepted. The breeders are given all the information on their tested animals.
The Landers have had some success with their bull calves being accepted by breeding companies.
“Our biggest buzz was having a bull, Glenui Degree Hoss, selected for this year’s LIC team. He’ll get used in most NZ Jersey herds. The bull’s mother is 12 years old and still in our herd,” Landers says.
“This year we sold five bulls to CRV and LIC whereas last year we sold five to each company. Most years we’re lucky to sell one so it’s always a bit of a buzz to get so many into the system.”
The Landers do embryo transfer (ET) work and quite a few of those bulls were from the same family.
“ET is a good process to use on your elite animals. Our top cow is coming up seven years old and we’ve performed ET on her twice. She now has 12 daughters on the ground and we’ve sold seven of her bull calves.
“This year we have 17 embryo transplant pregnancies and 15 of them are from two animals. It’s a numbers game though. You may transfer five embryos but only two or three cows get in calf. Sometimes you get extremely lucky and most get in-calf. Usually you tend to have a 50% success rate.”
A large number of their herd is contract-mated. Last year they raised 28 bulls and had five were taken by AI companies. They say it is always satisfying to have animals that are good enough for the breeding companies to want.
“There have been two proven JerseyGenome bulls come through over each of the last two years. Even if only small numbers are bought each year a high percentage of them come through as proven bulls. Last year was good and this year has been even better,” Landers says.
BW is a valuable tool.
“We have one more herd test to go but in early March we had three cows do over 600 kilograms of milksolids and they are some of the high BW/PW cows. It’s a very good tool even if we just compare cows within our own herd,” he says.
“As well as the three cows producing over 600kg MS about 50 cows produce over 500kg MS and there’s still another month to go. We’re pleased with that percentage of the herd, which is now down to just over 300.”
The Landers are big fans of Jerseys and always have been.
They feel Jerseys will make a resurgence but it will be a slow process. Their herd produces about 1kg MS per kilo of live weight whereas a Friesian cow that is 100kg heavier needs to produce 100kg more MS just to match.
“This year the fat component of the monthly cheque is nearly double that of the protein. That’s very significant. There are no Friesian bulls in the top 30 bulls (on BW). There are 25 Jerseys and five crossbreds. That’s probably due to the financial incentive of the fat payout,” he says.”
Landers would like to think Jerseys will eventually become a much higher percentage of the national dairy herd. At the moment they are sitting at about 12% and he’d like to see that double.
“The Jersey breed has a lot of horsepower for its size. We have 25 bulls in the top 30 from a breed that makes up 12% of the population. We punch well above our weight. It’s about getting other farmers to see that.
“Whether you like the BW system or not it tells us the Jersey is a very good dairy animal. Environmentally and sustainability-wise the breed is a very efficient producer.”
