from April, 2002 Jersey Journal
"Why take two years of raising a nice heifer and waste it in 15 minutes?"
Keith Hockett, of Randelman, N.C., is not asking a rhetorical question. He knows what it’s like to have Holstein heifers not able to have their calves. Lost production, lost cows, lost calves . . . it wasn’t something that this enthusiastic dairyman, who says from the heart, "All I ever wanted to do was milk cows" could endure.
The solution? "About 13 years ago, we went breeding to all Jerseys."
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The Hockett Family was honored as the North Carolina Farm Conservation Farm Family in 2000. Keith Hockett (fifth from right) runs the cow side of Green Valley Farms, with his brother Herschel overseeing the farming operations on 900 acres, part of an original grant to an ancestor made in 1776. |
Today, about half of this 400-plus cow herd is sired by Registered Jersey bulls and, with the young stock, all are identified through Jersey Expansion on the database of the American Jersey Cattle Association.
At the same time, Hockett enrolled the herd on REAP. A bit more than a year later, the average of qualified Jersey lactation records in Hockett's herd is 26,917 lbs. milk, 1,281 lbs. fat, and 898 lbs. protein, ranking first for milk and fat and second for protein in the U.S.
"There are a lot of people that just don’t understand why we are breeding our Holsteins to Jerseys," Hockett acknowledges. "But if they get so big and busy that they don’t have time to look after them, then they will appreciate the crossbreed cows."
Hockett knows. Back in 1970, his family was milking 60 to 65 cows in a stanchion barn. In a few years, natural growth had them up to 120 cows .
Time was at a premium. For example, "It was taking us 10 hours a day when we were milking in a stanchion barn. So, we built a parlor and started milking there in 1977."
That’s about the time calving problems began to have a noticeable impact in this Holstein and crossbred commercial herd. Even when they were right at cowside for calving, calving problems were affecting the pocketbook, and their morale.
Now even their veterinarian, a dairy producer himself, is breeding his heifers to Jersey bulls.
"Why do I like the crossbreds?" Hockett repeats the interviewer’s question. "I can take you out there and show you a 3/4 cow that’s 14 years old. She’s milking 87 lbs. and bred back the first time with no problem. Her daughter (also by a Jersey bull) just made 41,000 lbs., first calving, and has never given us a bit of trouble."
Exceptional cows, yes, but not exceptions compared to all the Jersey-sired cows at Green Valley Farms.
"They put on good udders," Hockett explains, "and you never see one with feet and leg problems.
Hockett reports lower incidence of mastitis, plus "no breeding problems. They just breed much easier."
"When you don’t have herd health problems, it makes life a lot easier for everybody."
"And, we’re way ahead of the game in butterfat and protein."
"We can feed the Jersey crossbreds for a dollar less per day than we can a Holstein."
"I gained a smaller cow and less feed costs."
Increasing the Jersey genetics in the herd is just part of an intensive effort to increase production that started in 1997, when Hockett took over the dairy operation from his father. "Since 1997, everything fell in place," he says. "We’ve changed feed companies, we’ve changed veterinary, we changed everything.
"The first year (1998) was a great success. We picked up 3,000 lbs. per cow. We thought that this is not going to happen the second year, but guess what, it did.
"We have good people helping us put it all together." Among them is Larry Busby, an A.I. sales manager who helped Hockett contact the American Jersey Cattle Association and the Jersey Expansion identification service.
"I am so glad to see the Jersey association do this," Hockett says of Jersey Expansion. ""It will open up more doors to get more people to breed more Jerseys.
"I look in the next 10 years to really see a lot of Jersey herds in this area," because of increased use of Jersey bulls.