Wisconsin Ag Connection - National/World News - American Jersey Cattle Association Had Record Year in '07

National & World Ag News Headlines

American Jersey Cattle Association Had Record Year in '07
USAgNet - 01/04/2008

Officials of the American Jersey Cattle Association are calling 2007 "the greatest year in the history," pointing to record or near-record activity in all primary service areas.

"It's hard to imagine how 2007 could have been better for members of the USJersey organizations," said Neal Smith, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the AJCA and National All-Jersey Inc., headquartered in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. "The organizations achieved major milestones last year and each of the three companies operated in the black.

The AJCA recorded 79,535 animals last year, the third-best year in history and the fourth consecutive year that the association has recorded at least 70,000 animals.

The association also adopted procedures to make permanent ID as easy as using double matched NAIS-compliant ear tags. A total of 22,426 calves were registered with these tags in their ears last year, and we filled orders for 99,187 units of JerseyTags in 2007.

Use of official Jersey performance evaluation programs also surged to new heights in 2007. As of December 31, 121,049 cows were enrolled in one of seven programs available from the AJCA, breaking the previous record by more than 8,200 cows.

Impetus for this growth was attributed to introduction of the REAP service package in 1995. "When we started bundling registrations, linear type evaluation, milk recording on pedigrees and genetic

And the official Jersey lactation average increased to 18,391 lbs. milk, 842 lbs. fat, and 655 lbs. protein. On a Cheddar cheese equivalent basis, average yield is 2,208 pounds. All are new category records, as are the 72,094 lactation records processed by the AJCA for 2007.

Smith also pointed out that a strong dairy economy was key to the association's 2007 performance. By last October, Jersey milk testing 4.62% fat and 3.58% protein, with premiums, was worth an average of $24.69 per hundredweight across all Federal orders. "The mailbox price for Jersey milk averaged 13% higher than the statistical blend price," Smith said, "with the biggest spread being 21% in the Mideast order.

The demand for milk components that pushed milk prices to record heights last year was reflected in unprecedented demand for Jersey genetics.