10. Suitability for different production / housing systems

Key points:  Jerseys are used successfully around the world in a diverse range of production systems (grazing and confinement)  However, Jerseys express their dominance in grazing systems where their larger digestive tract per unit bodyweight allows them a greater feed intake capacity  Jerseys are better suited to walking longer distances associated with grazing systems than

Holsteins, and to hot climatic conditions

Definite breed differences do arise across various production systems. While Jerseys are used successfully around the world in a diverse range of production systems, they may perform at their best in grazing systems where the majority of their nutrients come from fresh pasture and conserved forages. A major advantage of the Jersey over the Holstein is their larger digestive tract per unit bodyweight which allows the Jersey cow a greater feed intake capacity (pasture and supplements) per unit bodyweight. This enhanced intake capacity and ability to consume often lower quality roughage is an advantage for Jerseys in grazing systems because they are forage based and often offer lower quality roughage than TMR diets.

In addition, because of their lighter weight and lower maintenance requirement, Jerseys are better suited to walking longer distances associated with grazing systems than Holsteins. In the grazing situation and under hot climatic conditions where strategies to mitigate heat stress (shade and evaporative cooling) are inadequate to help cows maintain a low heat load level, Jerseys will do better than Holsteins because of their greater heat tolerance. Because of their higher fertility and easier heat detection, Jerseys are well suited to a grazing system, where heat detection may be suboptimal. However, the fertility advantage of Jerseys over Holsteins has also been found in confinement systems.

Jerseys and Holsteins exhibit different lying and eating behaviours in confinement systems [Munksgaard et al., 2020]. Further research is needed to understand how the behaviours and performance of Jerseys and Holsteins compare in different types of housed systems (freestall barn, compost-bedded pack barn) with or without automatic milking systems. This may have important implications for how Jerseys are fed and managed in these systems.