About Jersey Cattle 

The Jersey breed was developed on Jersey Island, one of a series of small Channel Islands in the channel between England and France, just off the coast of Normandy, France. Jersey Island is about forty five square miles and is renowned as a tourism and banking center, for its remarkable Jersey Royal potatoes and, of course, for the Jersey cow. Sixty years ago there were over 1,000 properties on this small island where at least a couple of Jersey cows would be kept. Today there are less than 30 functioning farms some of which are quite large and modern.

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It is theorized that some of the foundation genetics for the Jersey breed came from Africa. This would explain why the breed exhibits strong tolerance to heat and high humidity conditions. For over 200 years the importation of any live bovines, semen or embryos has been restricted on Jersey. This could well explain why the breed is noted for its ability to “breed true” to type. In July 2008, the ban on semen imports to Jersey Island was lifted.

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On Jersey Island the dairy rations were primarily forage-based, thus requiring a cow that could efficiently convert grasses and legumes into milk and milk solids. Jersey owners placed emphasis on developing a breed of cows with very high solids levels in her milk. This selection over generations has created a cow with extraordinary levels of butterfat relative to the other common breeds of dairy cattle today.

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For much of the first six decades of the 20th century, Jersey Island was the source of breeding stock to start Jersey populations all over the globe. The breed has been particularly noteworthy in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, the United States, South Africa, Great Britain and Canada. In more recent times these countries have been the source of seed stock for national Jersey herds in the Central and South American countries of Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica. Mexico has become a prominent importer and breeder of Jerseys as well. Populations of Jerseys are growing in France, Japan, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Kenya.