KERRY McGarvie can't see a downside to breeding Jerseys.
In fact, for her Bookaar dairy farm, near Camperdown, Jerseys "tick all the right boxes".
With positive experiences in terms of health, milk production, type, temperament and feed conversion, you can see why Kerry and her partner, Lawrence Finney, recommend Jersey semen.
"I have never been as optimistic about the future or had as much confidence in the breed as I do now," Kerry said. "No matter how bad or good things are, I still see others getting less for their milk."
The couple, who operate under the stud name Taughboyne, started the season at 32 cents a litre because of their herd's higher components.
This year they culled herd numbers from 280 to 230 cows and decreased pellet feed by 4kg per cow.
But still, production increased by 2 litres/cow/day.
Kerry said milking Jerseys meant calving had never been a problem.
"We rarely pull more than four calves a year and I don't feel guilty about that," she said.
Kerry's first artificially inseminated-bred Jerseys were born in 2002.
Despite working with Holsteins during their time share farming and building herd numbers with black and white, Kerry and Lawrence naturally built their herd to all Jerseys by 1998.
Recounting one of their favourite stories about the breed, Kerry said a Jersey yearling taught them a valuable lesson about never giving up.
In 2004 their vet diagnosed the young animal with pneumonia and internal bleeding or shock and suggested she be put down.
Too late to call the knackery, they decided to take matters into their own hands only to discover they didn't have any bullets.
Their only option was to make her comfortable.
"We just rugged her up and gave her double the dose of antibiotics, fully expecting her to be dead in the morning," Kerry said.
"When we got there she was standing up and chewing hay-bale strings hanging on the back wall.
"Needless to say her name is Lucky."
Showing registered cows has been something the couple has worked towards over time.
Prior to cutting back their show appearances in recent years during past few years, one of the couple's cows, a three-year-old by Astound, won Inter-breed champion at the 2006 Camperdown Show.
That same year she was the business's highest-placed cow in the On-Farm Challenge and along with two other Astound cows has topped the herd for the past three years at 8000 litres/cow/year.
