My Story
Where it all started…
Before we brought home our first jersey, I had spent months watching various sites and keeping my finger on the pulse of the Jersey market. Throughout that time I did passive research, getting familiar with common problems people have with milk cows in general, and also specific challenges that jerseys pose. All of that work was just to put our minds at ease about bringing home a breed of cow we weren’t familiar with and taking on responsibilities that would change our lifestyle. We had no intention of becoming more involved in the jersey market, we were just excited to start milking our own cow and giving that opportunity and experience to our family.
When it started to grow…
As time passed, and because I was still getting notified of jersey cows for sale, I saw more cows coming up for sale because small families, and even dairies dedicated to AI’ing, couldn’t get them bred. This started our next endeavour of purchasing a purebred jersey bull and beginning our breeding program. We saw special demand in A2/A2 jerseys as the milk production is ideal for a family and the specific beta-casein can help those with diagnosed lactose intolerance. I was intrigued by the registration and genetic testing processes; these were ways we could add value to cows we hoped to resell to farms just getting started with a milk cow.
Where we are now…
After calving out a few jersey calves, I also fell in love with training calves from the start (the halter training is a lot easier then!) and so we expanded our market to jersey calves as well. Continuing to learn about cattle health and fertility has allowed us to take on jerseys that other farms may feel intimidated by, and has given us an opportunity to improve the jersey market by providing sound cattle to new owners.