IT HAS staked its claim as Australia's oldest continuously run dairy cattle club and now it is going to celebrate.
In May, the South Gippsland Jersey Breeders Club will commemorate 100 years when Jersey Australia holds its annual general meeting at Inverloch in conjunction with a local club sale.
Club president Keith Kuhne, of Bushlea at Leongatha, said the club was formed in 1912, five years before the Victorian branch of what is now the equivalent of Jersey Australia.
Leongatha Agricultural High School headmaster Mr AA Mesley was at the centre of developing the club as the high school had its own Jersey stud called First Choice.
Back then, the club was called the South Gippsland Jersey Breeders Association and it held its first sale in 1914 at the school's sports day.
Three head were sold and the top price was 7 3/4 guineas.
It was the first of 93 sales in the club's 99-year history.
"To my knowledge it is the longest-running multi-vendor annual sale in Australia," Mr Kuhne said.
"Prior to the first (multi-vendor) sale in 1924 a sale committee was formed to inspect all cattle auctioned."
"That practice is still in place today ... (they) make sure they are up to the breed standard before they go to auction.
"That may have helped the sale go for so long. . . there has always been a high standard of cattle."
This year's sale will be the club's 94th sale and it hopes to sell 30 females at the Devondale 100 years of Jersey Excellence sale.
"It's an incredible record," Mr Kuhne said. "The club has had a long association with Devondale-Murray Goulburn and we are very, very pleased that they have come on board and are going to be the major sponsor of the sale."
Over the past century the club has had three names and attracted speakers from across the world.
This year US Jersey director of development Cherie Bayer will speak at the centenary luncheon.
Peak membership of the club was in the 1960s when numbers hit 120. There are only 35 members now, but six meetings a year are anticipated social occasions.
"It's very important for people to meet and get together and talk about the industry, what's going on within the breed any changes made and the different bulls coming through the system," Mr Kuhne said.
