‘Jersey – The Most Profitable and Sustainable Cow?’ – Literature Review for Jersey Australia
Jersey cow performance in mixed-breed herds Some respondents to the Jersey Australia survey expressed concern about how well Jersey cows competed with Holstein cows in mixed-breed herds. Australian herd recording data held by DataGene suggest that Jersey cows perform well alongside other cows in mixed-breed herds, as the difference between milk solids production per cow per year of Jersey cows and Holstein cows in mixed-breed herds from 1990 to 2019 has remained fairly constant over many years (Figure 5a,b).
Holstein cows Jersey cows
(a)
Holstein cows Jersey cows
(b)
Figure 5. Average 305-day milk solids per cow for cows by year for (a) mixed-breed seasonal and split calving herds, and (b) mixed-breed year-round calving herds. Blue points and line of best fit represent Holstein cows in mixed-breed herds. Red points and line represent Jersey cows in mixedbreed herds [DataGene, 2021].
+
st
Prepared by Dr Steve Little, Capacity Ag Consulting, 1 November 2021
Page 21 of 98
