‘Jersey – The Most Profitable and Sustainable Cow?’ – Literature Review for Jersey Australia
2. Production efficiency Key points: Studies have found that Jerseys produce 6-11% more energy-corrected milk (ECM) than Holsteins per kilogram of dry matter intake, and 26-31% more ECM per 100 kg bodyweight than Holsteins. Jerseys are also 8% more energetically efficiency Jersey cows’ higher production efficiency is due to reduction and dilution of their daily maintenance energy requirement Jerseys are performing well in mixed breed herds When respondents to the Jersey Australia survey were asked to give their level of agreement with the statement ‘Jerseys convert feed into milk more efficiently than other breeds’: 96% agreed or strongly agreed, 2% disagreed or strongly disagreed, and 2% were unsure. Production efficiency may be expressed and measured in many different ways. Two of the most common measures are the amount of milk solids (MS) or energy corrected milk yield (ECM) per unit of dry matter (DM) intake, and the amount of milk solids (MS) or energy corrected milk yield (ECM) per 100kg bodyweight (BW). Grainger and Goddard (2004) compiled the results of research studies described in eleven scientific papers and reported that feed conversion efficiency (g MS/kg DM) was generally higher (8 out of 11 comparisons) for the Jersey compared with the Holstein and Friesian cows, averaging about 6.4% higher. (For more details, see Appendix B, Table B.1). More recent studies confirm the conclusions of Grainger and Goddard (2004) that Jerseys use feed more efficiently than Holsteins. Beecher et al. (2014) found that feed conversion efficiency (g MS/kg DM) of Jerseys on an entirely pasture diet was 16% higher than that of Holsteins. Milk solids yield (kilograms of fat and protein) per 100 kg BW was 0.27 kg for Holsteins but 0.35 kg for Jerseys with the crossbred being intermediate. A Danish study by Kristensen et al. (2015) compared the efficiency of Holstein, Jersey and other breeds in herds where cows were fed either a total mixed ration or a partial mixed ration and housed in loose housing systems. Jerseys were found to have higher efficiency for six efficiency measures for energy and production, namely: Total energy requirement in percent of NEL intake (NELEFF) Residual feed intake (RFI) Kilograms of ECM per 10 MJ of NEL (ECMNEL) Kilograms of ECM per kilogram of DMI (ECMDMI) Kilograms of ECM per 100 kg of live weight (ECMBW) Kilograms of DM per 100 kg of live weight (DMIBW) As shown in Table 5., Kristensen et al. (2015) found that Jerseys produced 8% more energycorrected milk (ECM) than Holsteins per kilogram of dry matter intake, and 31% more ECM per 100 kg bodyweight than Holsteins. Jerseys were also 8% more energetically efficient, as measured in kg ECM per 10 MJ of net energy for lactation (NEL).
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Prepared by Dr Steve Little, Capacity Ag Consulting, 1 November 2021
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