Kiwi spearheads global Jersey strategy revamp
The global organisation for Jersey breeders has undergone a strategy refresh - spearheaded by new president and the first New Zealander to hold the post, Alison Gibb.
New Zealand’s top Jersey cow breeders converge in Waikato next month for the North Island Championship.
The Bell Booth Jersey Classic, hosted by Te Awamutu Jersey Club at the Kihikihi Domain on November 15, will offer a top prize of $1000.
The Te Awamutu Jersey Club will combine this year’s championship with their annual show.
The show is free to the public and provides an opportunity to see cows and young stock up close. Food and refreshments will also be available on the day.
The show is open to Jersey breeders from around the country and online entries are still open. Show Convenor Ross Riddell says the club is expecting a good turnout for the event.
“The Bell Booth Jersey Classic will bring together the best Jersey cattle from around the North Island to celebrate the breed and compete in a range of classes, culminating in the awarding of the North Island championship,” says Riddell.
“We’re keen to get as many entrants as possible to make this year’s North Island championship a really exciting event. We encourage anyone who has considered showing to give it a go and enter an animal or two.”
Riddell says the Te Awamutu area boasts a number of top Jersey studs which will ensure a strong event.
“Many past North Island champs have been bred from herds in the area, but the club is welcoming the extra competition,” says Riddell.
“We are hoping to attract exhibitors from around the North Island and we think we’ve put together a show schedule and prize packages to entice a number of breeders from other areas and clubs.”
To enter cattle in the Jersey Classic and for a schedule of classes visit www.jerseyclassic.co.nz. Entries must be received by November 1.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.