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2004 Annual Council Meetings
Vice President (Asia/Oceana) - Report
Time has certainly flown since we were in South Africa six months ago, at a very successful World Jersey Annual Meeting, followed by a very interesting tour covering the dairy industry, Jersey breed and different farming methods, as well as seeing many interesting tourist spots, all in all a very good overview!
The World Jersey Cattle Bureau gives member countries and new developing countries so much information regarding performance under such a huge range of conditions, e.g. feed, heat, payments for milk, different strains that may suit one condition more than another, plus much more.
The big challenge in new developing markets is that liquid milk is the first priority, so until the dairy industry is more developed in that market, Jerseys are more limited. Approximately 15,000 in-calf heifers from New Zealand have been sold to China for export this autumn, being mainly Holstein Friesian. The dairy product potential in China is huge. Australia supplied a lot of the live animals to China previously, but have been rebuilding their own herds after last year’s drought.
The biggest challenge facing Australian and New Zealand dairy farmers at the moment is the price paid to them, for not only this year, but what is projected for the next two seasons. Both countries are paid for their products mainly in US dollars, so with the dollar weakening and Australian and New Zealand currencies strengthening, this leads to a major effect on payout. Both Australian and New Zealand Jersey associations are very active in all fields, as both countries have a majority of seasonal calving. The past six months has been busy with classification and shows with many areas in both countries staging large on-farm shows.
With continued genetic gain and better feeding both countries are seeing better per- cow/per-hectare performance. The last two weeks has seen in the Lower North Island, New Zealand, major floods with some of the worst damage in the last one hundred years. A few Jersey breeders have been affected so this has been a worrying time for them. It is rather ironic that last year I was writing that this area had probably the driest period for a hundred years.
Finally, it will be good to be in Argentina seeing their farms and Jerseys, and I will hopefully have a few ideas for finances for our meetings, and an update for Jersey numbers and breeders in the Asia-Oceana region.
Respectfully submitted
Richard Gibson
March 2004
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