Many things come to mind when we note the passing of time, and we sometimes celebrate a New Year by taking time to recount and remember things we have accomplished in the previous year. A big project for me over the past year was to gather the necessary information to register my Miniature Jersey herd and while the paperwork itself is cause for a bit of celebration, it is what these papers represent that's the real story. The registrations in this photo represent seventeen years of dedication to the breed and to my own personal goals for my herd.
It has taken me a bit longer to get this far for several reasons which I will briefly mention but on which I will not dwell. (Everything comes to fruition at the proper time and my setbacks and the circumstances that made my progress slower than others are now simply a part of the story and not to be read in a negative light.) My progress has always been slower than many other breeders because no matter what, my cows have always produced more bull calves than heifer calves. In addition, I have been very selective as to what cows, heifers, and bulls I would register. I have sold many cows and heifers over the years as unregistered stock because they did not meet MY criteria for the breed. In addition, I took time off from focused breeding so that I could give my attention instead to the three grandchildren that I kept from the time the kids were infants until they were four years old.
The last five years, I have once again worked diligently to return some of the bloodlines to my herd that I sold off and to improve the bloodlines that I reserved. I wanted to introduce bloodlines that had not been introduced to my herd prior through a new herd sire. I had a certain size and conformation in mind. I found two bulls that I loved, and although they came from registered stock, there were some holes in the pedigree and the bulls were not registered. Once again, I decided that my personal goals were more important to me than registrations. Now I had these lovely registered cows that I worked so hard to produce over the years and the bulls I was using would be unregistered. Thus, the offspring would be unregisterable as well.
A repeat buyer approached me, after buying an unregistered bull calf, and wanted to know if there was any way that I could register him. Because of this buyers faithfulness over the years to support our farm and promote the genetics we had worked so hard to produce, I told them that I would see what I could do, but I was doubtful I could fulfill her request. Imagine my surprise when I contacted the registrar at the American Miniature Jersey Association and she educated me on the fact that the bull who was the sire and grand-sire of the two bulls I had purchased was well-known and desired in the Miniature Jersey Circles. Thus, we had the information needed for half of the pedigree. She encouraged me to reach out to the original owner of this bull, Dexter Corner Taylor's Alpha . Interestingly enough, it turns out the original owner lives less than an hour from me. It took some persistence on my part, but eventually I was able to make contact with the owner, verify enough information for the other half of the pedigree, and obtain a few photos of some of the animals in the pedigree for the registrar. The back and forth and eventual exchange of information took many months and it was a year later before all the information was submitted so that it could be processed. I have to give a shout-out to Constance, at the American Miniature Jersey Association. With the amount of paperwork I submitted and the number of cattle I registered, it was not an easy task to record all the information but she did so in record time. (We will not talk about the lack of professionalism from the US Postal service that lost and then returned all the registrations the first mailing. Then it took nine days for the registrations to reach us once they were mailed the second time.)
These registrations mark a shift for us, as I anticipate now selling mostly registered cattle. The prices will reflect the years of work, culling what didn't meet my standards, and the increased price of keeping cattle. My prices will also vary depending on the characteristics and pedigrees of each of the animals I have for sale. Going forward, I will no longer offer unregistered bull calves. All bulls from our farm will be sold registered and the price will reflect such. With that said, I will be be fair because my desire is that these small, homestead cows continue to end up in the homes of people who truly desire and appreciate them. It has never been about the money that could be made but rather improving and promoting the breed. This will continue to be my focus.
I still have a couple of cows in our herd that are excellent homestead cows that do not meet my criteria for a Miniature Jersey and available heifers from those cows may be available from time to time as unregistered and more economical stock. Mostly, however, we will be selling registered cows and heifers.
I'm excited about the future of herd. I am excited about the young bull we brought in a year ago now. He has matured into a beauty. It may have taken us a while to get to this place, but it was worth the effort. In a competitive field, it's nice to be compete against no one other than ourselves, working towards the goals we have set for our herd, and feeling accomplished that we have come so far. There's always room for improvement and we will strive toward improving our herd as long as we continue to breed the delightful Miniature Jerseys.
Note regarding the photo: For those unfamiliar with the registrations from AMJA, the gold seal in the photos represents animals that are three years of age or older and meet the final height requirements to be registered as a Miniature Jersey of permanent status. The blue seals are animals that are not yet three years of age but will receive permanent status once they are of age and within the required height range.