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.
The sale of a line of elite, high BW, young Jersey cows and heifers is attracting interest from farmers across the country.
The onfarm sale is being held by NZ Farmers Livestock on the vendor’s farm at Matamata on Tuesday (April 5th).
Vendor, Herb Wuest, said the cows have 22 years of selected breeding behind them.
“I bought the nucleus of the herd back in the mid 1990s and since then have personally selected and nominated AB sires (from the two big New Zealand genetics companies) which complement each cow.
“I never chased BW. My priority was to breed cows that have exceptional functional traits – capacity, fertility, stature, protein, temperament and udder conformation. The fact they have high BW is one indication of their quality,” Wuest said.
Several of the 96 x 2-5yr cows have indexes in the range of BW 345 and PW 746 with an overall average of BW of 255 and PW of 286.
The 26 x R2yr heifers average BW of 255 and PW of 253. Seventy five percent of the cows are A2A2 and 80% of the heifers are A2A2.
Herb Wuest said deciding to sell the young stock has been “tough but my head had to over-rule my heart. We are downsizing and I can’t take the entire herd with us.”
The onfarm auction will take place at the Wuest farm, 75 Rapurapu Road, Matamata at 12 noon on Tuesday 5 April. Farmers have the option to either attend the sale and bid ringside, or online via MyLivestock.co.nz.
The 2026 Holstein Friesian NZ Black & White Youth Auction has once again proven the strength of support behind the breed’s young people, raising $20,130 for the HFNZ Black & White Youth programme.
Westpac NZ has become the first New Zealand bank to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to secure and leverage kiwifruit growers' Zespri shares.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) and Pāmu (Landcorp Farming Limited) have developed a new way for landowners to earn revenue from existing native forests.
Despite near universal optimism in the rural sector, a panel of New Zealand’s leading food and agri minds caution that the sector must be intentional about its future path.
The dairy industry cannot rest on its laurels despite providing one in every four export dollars earned by the country, says DairyNZ chief executive Campbell Parker.
The Government is looking at intervening on behalf of Waikato farmers who face new regulations around agricultural land use while Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are underway.

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