Glenfern Jerseys End of an Era
By Sue Webster One cow was the inspiration of the Great Southern Challenge, and Peter Farrell was the person that Glenfern Homes Jess VHC 92pts inspired. The annual on-farm competition now involving 1600 of southern Australia’s prime Jerseys had its beginnings in 1999, shortly after Jess won the Goulburn Murray Breeders’ Jersey Club on-farm challenge two years after being named champion cow at the club feature show at Cobram. Peter said: “It got me thinking ‘how could you compare that cow with other cows?” Most Jersey clubs were already running their own Challenges and it was a way of pitting all the winners against each other. And I thought about having the same judge across all the cows. Ron Baker and I were driving down to a committee meeting and I ran the idea of the on-farm judging by Ron and we put it to the committee.” It was the start of the challenge – a model since picked up by other breed societies – and also saw the establishment of the Farrell Baker Trophy.
24 — JerseyJournal June/July 2007
His other involvements have included serving five years as chair and two years as treasurer of Jersey Australia, having joined the committee in 1998 and is currently vice-president of the Federal Council. He also served as the breed society field officer for northern Victoria for five or six years. Now 51, and preparing to leave full-time milking, Peter Farrell is leaving a rich legacy for the Jersey breeders of Australia. His grandfather started a stud in the 1940s and, although the breed records lapsed in the interim, Peter and his wife Bev revived the Glenfern prefix and re-established the stud on their 100ha farm at Congupna. Among the families through their fully registered herd are the Flowers, Babes, Buoys, Canarys and the Handsomes. “The Gladsomes were one of my first cow families, with Astound Gladsome expected to produce over 8000 litres this season,” said Peter. Still in the herd is Glenfern Lester 1830 VHC 92pts, winner of honourable mention cow in the 1999 NSW State Show at Camden,
champion in the 2000 show and winner of another honourable mention again in 2001. At the end of April the Autumn calving herd averaged 25 litres/ day with 4.6% fat and 3.7% protein off 8kg/cow/day grain. In Spring the herd peaked at 28 litres/day, “for the short time we had grass,” Peter added. “In May last year I got Best Fed to go through the feeding regime because I knew we were not going to get enough water. We decided to push the cows along by feeding them a grain mix with high protein supplement and lupins. We challenged the cows at the start of the year so they were in really good condition when we dried them off.” The commercial strength of their animals is an important driver for the Farrells or, as Peter describes his animals: “their dairyness and the amount of milk they are giving.” It ensured the quick sale of the herd soon after they were offered to the market. A total of 86 Autumn calvers have been sold to Andrew and Zoe Gaul of Nilma as they prepare to enter into a sharefarming deal with