Episode 07 (Season 3) - Ice Cream & Cheese - Why VikingJersey Excels in USA

Jersey cow populations across the world are booming. Their cost-effectiveness, feed efficiency, good fertility, and high solids production make them highly desirable. In effect, it’s a cow built for the dairy industry of tomorrow.

But what makes Jersey milk so desirable for cheese and ice cream production? And what do Nordic genetics have to offer for American dairy farmers?

To learn more and get tips on how to get the most out of your Jersey cows, we invited a Jersey breeding expert and an American dairy farmer to the studio. They share their knowledge and explain why VikingJersey milk is favoured by American cheese and ice cream producers.

Guests:
Peter Larson, Senior Breeding Manager for VikingJersey at VikingGenetics
Tom Seals, Owner of Legendairy Farms, Oregon, and Board Director at Tillamook County Creamery

Host: 
Tomás De La Rosa

Transcript

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Jersey cow populations across the world are booming. Their cost effectiveness, feed efficiency, good fertility, and high solids production make them very desirable. In effect, it's a cow built for the dairy industry of tomorrow. But what makes Jersey milk so desirable for cheese and ice cream production? And what do Nordic genetics have to offer for American dairy farmers? To learn more and get tips on how to get the most out of your Jersey cows, we invited a Jersey breeding expert and an American dairy farmer to the podcast. They share their knowledge and explain why VikingJersey milk is favored by American cheese and ice cream producers. Peter Larson, senior breeding manager for Viking Jersey at VikingGenetics, and Tom Seals, owner of Legendairy Farms, Beaver, Oregon, and Board Director of the Tillamook County Creamery, who joins us online. This is the BreedCast produced by VikingGenetics. I'm your host, Tomás De La Rosa. Hello and welcome to both of you. Tom, thank you for calling in bright and early from Tillamook County, Oregon, in the United States. Good to be here. And Peter, it's great to have you back in studio. Thank you. Tom, can you give our listeners an overview of what Tillamook is and how large it is? Okay. Yeah. So, number one, Tillamook’s a town in Oregon, in the United States, but what we're famous for is our cheese and ice cream. Tillamook’s a milk co-op. There's roughly 60 co-op members that supply the plant with, not just Jersey milk, but all milk. But there is a large percentage of the producers in our county that do milk Jerseys. We also own a processing plant about 300 miles east. And that milk, is supplied by contract milk, not necessarily co-op member milk. But again, it's a large percentage of Jersey milk that goes into that plant. And, as far as Tillamook, our brand, it's the number one growing ice cream brand in the United States. I believe we're the number one natural cheese in the United States. And, there's Tillamook dairy products in, currently in one in four households in America. So, overall, a good story for our co-op and our brand. And we're excited about that. And as you say, Jersey cows, they contribute towards that success. Peter, can you please give us a short overview of the benefits of Jersey cows? Well, the main benefits of the Jersey cows are the size of the cows. They are medium size. And that relates to the feed efficiency and to the emissions. Not all of it is something that we have included in breeding work all over the world. But in our part of the world we have included at least the feed efficiency, and the emissions will come. Then the concentrated milk, the high volume of butter fat and protein. And when it comes to milk, it also relates to fertility and to health and longevity. So medium size, a little less milk volume, but high solids gives you longer living and healthier cows. And what are some common myths or misconceptions about Jersey cows? Well, low production, poor profitability, no meat. I’ve mentioned it before that some see Jerseys as goats, but they are profitable, very profitable goats. If that's how we should look at them. And they have a bright future ahead of them. Anything to add, Tom? No, I just reiterate what Peter just said. It's interesting, though, the goat comment, because I can remember when I was a kid, that's what I can remember, people teasing my father because we milked Jerseys and, of course, now he's probably the only one of those dairy farmers that's left in business. But it does boil down to old habits die hard, and tradition sometimes is hard to overcome. Come those, you know, what you've done a long time in the past, but, I think ultimately Jerseys are an extremely profitable breed of cows to milk. And then being so profitable, it's something that's made them very popular over the last few years. They have been established in Denmark and in America for many, many years. But it wasn't until recently that their populations in the States exploded. They went from approximately 63,000 in the eighties to well over 360,000 in the 2020s. Why is that, Tom? Well, a couple of things, went on probably in the mid nineties. Multiple component of cheese yield pricing went into effect in a lot of regions in the United States. Prior to that time, Jersey producers were either just paid for just volume or volume and fat, but when multiple component pricing started to spread across the United States, that really drove a lot of Jersey expansion with equitable pay for fat and protein and other solids in the milk. That kind of drove a lot of that growth probably in the early 2000s. And then, a couple other things that happened in the United States probably in the last I'd say 5 to 10 years, the processing in the United States, twofold. And a lot of co-ops and processors put milk quotas in place. So you were only allowed to ship so many pounds of milk to the processor. And a lot of those quotas were simply a volume quota. So, the only way for a dairy farmer shipping milk to those processors way to increase their income was to increase their components. And so I think that was another, key factor that drove some more Jersey growth in the United States. And then probably in the last five years, it's just come down to looking for a more sustainable cow to milk, more feed efficient cow to milk as we talk a lot about environmental sustainability, all of the above. But those trends are continuing to increase the breed numbers. I believe that as far as the overall dairy population in the United States, there's approximately a million Jersey cows in the United States. Our entire dairy herd is a tick over 9 million cows. And I don't know if anybody knows the exact number, but it's somewhere around a million cows, maybe a bit more. And it is the only breed that I am aware of - or have been told - it is still growing in numbers, so it's just not growing as rapid as it was probably ten years ago. 10% of the national herd. That's a very respectable amount, I would say. And as you mentioned over the last five years, it's been a huge focus on the sustainability, which makes it so that some people call them the cows of the future. Peter, what exactly makes them a future-friendly choice? Well, what Tom just explained about the sustainability profile of the Jerseys has enabled the Jersey breed to take on this - what should we call it?- the lead in developing the future-friendly cow or the cow of the future and in sustainability is the feed efficiency, the emissions and also health. And health relates to longevity and to animal welfare. So the healthier animals that we breed, the more welfare we will see as a result of our breeding work. And animal welfare is not directly described in a future-friendly cow goal, but it certainly will. I think consumers will prioritize that in future. And Tom, all these rigorous health and performance records that we have in the Nordics, which traits are our most valuable to you? When I look at the Nordic Jersey and what they have to offer, for our farm, probably the number one thing that is fat production and even specifically, both pounds and percents. And that's probably the number one thing. I think back, probably 20 years ago, in the United States, protein was emphasized so heavily that there was a lot of US domestic bulls that were high volume, same medium protein percent, but extremely low fat. And for years we were told that fat was going to be worthless someday and we kind of went down that path in our country. And of course, you know, what happens is then the fat market goes way up, and fat has been worth a lot for a long time. And the trends in this country with butter consumption... The fat is probably the number one thing that we went to Denmark for to bring back into our herd in a short generation interval. And probably as far as the rest of the traits; reproduction is something that VikingJerseys have not let slip as much. I think they have an advantage to our US Jerseys for reproduction. And then, also, the other health traits, I think maybe we're more neck-on-neck now on that, but at one time I know somatic cell scores, were really low with VikingGenetics and those were kind of my top three things and... I kind of view things maybe a little differently. Number one, we had an opportunity to go to Denmark in 2008 and see a lot of Jersey herds and what they were doing, which probably changed how I even view genetics and cows now. But I realized each country kind of has their specialty in what they focus on with their milk markets and their consumer trends and everything that's going on and in your individual country. So we kind of use VikingGenetics to almost get inbreed and heterosis in combat. I feel, it combat inbreeding and I almost feel when we bring in those outside genetics that they probably perform better than even the cows in that own country. And it's kind of been part of my breeding philosophy to kind of mix different countries’ genetics to accomplish the gains and whatever trait we're looking to focus on. Peter, in the subject of milk trends and markets, A2A2 Beta Casein and BB Kappa Casein they've become very sought out genotypes for all sorts of dairy production. What does VikingJjersey have to offer in this? Well, we do not market any bulls that are not A2A2 for Beta Casein. That's our philosophy that we want to breed cattle and cattle that produce milk that is all A2A2, because there is a consumer trend towards more A2 - the preferred genotype for Beta Casein - and those help bring the effects that this A2 Casein can give. So let's follow the consumer trends and let's supply the consumers with what they demand. For cheese production and the cheese making process, we have been breeding for higher level of BB Kappa Casein, and we are very close to 90% in both bulls and in females. And it is an advantage for the dairy company that produces the cheese that they have milk that is natural and gives them a higher cheese yield. Thank you. And for those of our listeners who want a deeper dive into Jersey cows, we have two dedicated episodes in which Peter discusses their benefits and why they are an excellent choice for farmers looking to switch breeds. We've given our listeners an overview of the benefits of Jersey cows. Now I'd like to focus on why they've become so valuable for cheese and ice cream producers in the States. Tom, what are some of the challenges dairy farmers face in the States right now, and how has Jersey been a game changer in the market? Well, probably most of the same challenges most dairy farmers face across the world. But probably number one, just the increased regulations when it comes to environment, animal welfare, just overall increase of oversight, probably particularly in the last two or three, well, probably one or two years it’s just inflationary costs. Milk price has been low and feed costs, transportation costs, everything's really escalated in the United States and then... Those are the main challenges, I would say, faced by most dairy farmers. I mean I think there are areas in this country where the water supplies are getting tight, not so much our area, but there is talk of dairy sheds migrating where there have been large quantities of milk produced. There's talk of it shifting, based on feed and water resources, probably other challenges or just quotas, you know, limitations on how much milk can be produced. Labour’s another issue, it's eased probably a little bit here this year, but labour is on top of people's minds also. And with all these challenges in mind and knowing that American dairy systems, they tend to be more intense than those we have in Denmark, Nordic genetics seem to thrive regardless. What is it about VikingGenetics and the VikingJersey that makes them so adaptable? I think probably part of that is the selection pressure that probably Peter's responsible for... I think they're very competitive in our farming systems in the United States. I also think kind of I referred a little bit to inbreeding and heterosis, I think there is something said to that. I think bringing in outside genetics that are bred to be competitive and performance minded genetics, profitable genetics. But I think at the same time you're doing that, you're lowering inbreeding of our domestic bulls and I think you see higher survivability in calves, more disease resistance, more, overall just a robust animal. Peter, anything to add to that? Yeah, I like what you mentioned, Tom, that you're discuss this with making use of two major Jersey populations and make use of the heterosis effects. And, in that way lowering inbreeding level and the effects of that. It is a wise way to run your breeding program. And I think that many more can benefit from that. Make use of the very best from leading populations. I'm sure that we can all benefit from that. Another thing about the region of the states you're in, Tom, the Pacific Northwest, is that winters, they're freezing and the rest of the year tends to be very wet. How do the Jersey cows handle it and does it have any effect on the productivity? Most of our facilities are... The cows are housed indoors in the wintertime. So, the effect from the weather is pretty limited, to be honest. We have naturally ventilated freestall barns. Probably the most common housing where cows are either housed year round or just through the winter months. But, we'll get probably a handful of days in the winter where we will get snow and freezing, say below 20 degrees for multiple days. We might see a little hit on production, but overall it's pretty minimal. So overall, they're highly adaptable. I mean, I think whether it's hot weather or cold in the winter, I think they’re as adaptable as any breed of cow. What about the grazing in the summer and springtime? So we went away from grazing probably six or seven years ago. And it wasn't because the Jerseys weren't good grazers. And there still are a lot of herds that do graze. And I would say nearly all of those herds prefer Jersey genetics. And we mainly went away from grazing just to utilize our resources as efficiently as possible. And we had expanded our herd kind of past the functionality of being able to graze them, and so our cows are fed full TMR now, but there are a lot of herds... a lot of them kind of will even mix, you know, the Nordic Jerseys with New Zealand genetics. with American genetics also, but it is popular to graze Jerseys in our area. And what can you tell us about your breeding strategy? Some bulls that you have recently used? We're currently milking VJ Gislev daughters. Some of them are coming fresh on their second calf, but we're still calving some on their first calf. They're doing really well. VJ Gutz - I'm probably butchering these names, but VJ Gutz; we've got heifers on the ground and in the pipeline. We've used, recently a little VJ Steno. In the past, we've used a little bit of everything. Looking back years ago, of course, older bulls. The first Danish bull I can remember using in our herd that had a tremendous effect was FYN Lemvig. And from then it was Q Impuls and JAS Artist and some of those bulls. And then after we went to Denmark and visited, we had probably even a higher degree of confidence in the bulls and the cattle, and felt there was a really similar environment that these cattle were performing in. And we used bulls like DJ Hovborg, Q Zik. DJ Zuma was a popular bull. I'm forgetting a bunch of bulls that we've used. But in selecting these bulls, when you're in a different country, what we have found is, you know, Interbull tries to compare all these bulls on one system and inevitably it seems like it just really doesn't tell you a lot and kind of ranks all the bulls really low. And so our best strategy was to go to like VikingGenetics and look at how they're ranking the bulls in their country. And I think that tells a little better story than trying to do it of the Interbull. Peter, anything to add to that? Yes, I like what you say, Tom, about your focus and your breeding program. And you are right that the conditions are quite similar in Denmark or the Nordic countries, but especially in Denmark and in the northwestern part of US or Oregon, this part of Oregon where you come from. So the genetics would fit both environments very well. And we also see that VJ Gislev, VJ Gutz, some of the newer bulls, they are doing very, very well in the US evaluation system. To some degree every country kind of has their own protectionism in place. Probably every country has good genetics, just everybody's focused on a little bit different traits. But I think it's important to realize that as a breeder, when you're trying to breed... You know, at the end of the day, everybody's trying to make a living, increase their income. And I think to kind of read between the lines a little bit and try and utilize what's going to be some of the best genetics for your operation, your environment, your milk pricing. I think there's a huge opportunity. Exactly! To try and identify the genetics that fits the best under the conditions which it is to be used. And you have identified some bulls that fit very well to your breeding goal and to the conditions you have in your area, especially when selling your milk to Tillamook Creamery, the high solids, the health and the genetics that fits both grazing and the TMR feeding. That's just how it is in Denmark. Peter, what makes ice cream and cheese made with Jersey milk so unique? Jersey milk is special because there is a higher content of milk solids and it's not all about the fat and protein. It's also about minerals. So even if you make a skim milk product, you take out some of the fat and make your cheeses or whatever product ice cream from this, it'll have a more rich flavor, it'll have more taste. And that's one of the advantages of using Jersey milk. And I think Tillamook Creamery makes very good benefit of this trademark of the Jersey milk. Tom, anything to add? The creamery was never really marketed as Jersey milk, but, we do kind of our trademark to our dairy products. We've always been about quality, clean ingredients. How do we make these dairy products, you know, not just better, but the best and trying to premiumize these everyday products like cheese and ice cream. But I'm sure you're right, Peter, that part of it... People will comment how creamy our ice cream is and our cheese is extremely good and people love it. And why the creamery is never marketed as a certain percentage of Jersey milk, I'm confident that there probably is something to that, and probably is one of the reasons why even though our recipes are higher fat higher inclusions. I even wonder in regards to the A2A2, we've never marketed milk, we've never went into that market. And kind of one of the things we do talk a little bit about at times in the boardroom is having a great product, but not negative advertising some other product and saying, Hey, ours is better because of this, but just making a good wholesome, clean ingredient, high quality product and, you know, we've never done organic, but I think in this country there was a lot of negative advertising that steered consumers maybe even away from the dairy case in general because of this marketing, that was a negative. And we see less of that now amongst competitors. But I think really we want our product to sell itself, to stand on its own, and based on quality and taste and I think we're doing that. And our listeners can also have a more profitable, trouble free dairy herd with world class Nordic genetics. To discover what VikingGenetics breeding bulls are available, please visit VikingGenetics.com and browse our selection of Jersey, Holstein, Red and beef sires. We've spoken about what dairy farmers should look out for with Jersey cows and their performance in the USA. Now I'd like to offer our listeners some management tips to make the most out of their Jersey cows. Tom, one of the things that you were just talking about a lot is the TMR, the total mixed ration for Jersey cows. What do you find is the ideal mix? I think just in general, Jerseys are generally just easier to work with. I think, just their size in general makes them easier to handle. Their overall adaptability and temperament. You know, I'll be honest, I've never worked with another breed of cows, so I grew up milking Jerseys and don't know any different. But, I think just overall, they're an easy cow to work with. I think until you work with them, you don't realize some of those benefits. Peter? About the Jerseys and feeding, I'm not a specialist in feeding. I try to make genetics that fits under all different kinds of management systems and feeding regimes, and I think we're pretty good at that, that our type of genetics or cows will fit into all different kinds of management systems. And that's a huge advance for us. And as you say, Peter, all the data, all the work we put into feed efficiency is one of the great benefits of VikingJersey genetics. Why should farmers pay more attention to feed efficiency rather than just pure production? Yeah, maybe not more attention than to production, but more and more. Because today our feed efficiency index, we call it Saved Feed, it has a quite low reliability. We are still in the beginning of making use of these genes that affect feed efficiency, but the more and more data we collect, the higher reliability there will be on the breeding value and we'll put more and more emphasis on it in our breeding goal. So in the end, in maybe five years time, I think we will be pretty close at putting the same emphasis on feed efficiency as we do on production today. So the main cost driver; the feed efficiency, and the main income driver; production, they will balance each other out. Tom, how do you notice this feed efficiency in your profits? We do watch feed efficiency a lot. A couple of different ways we measure feed efficiency in our herd is how many... we'll standardize it to three and a half fat corrected milk. But how many pounds of dry matter to produce a pound of three and a half fat corrected milk. And I think currently we're a little over 1.6 pounds of milk to pounds of dry matter feed. I always feel one of the most important metrics of efficiency is income over feed costs. We watch that closely and we're currently somewhere right around $10 a cow income over feed a day. But we always like anything, we're continually trying to improve that. But overall, this feed efficiency, I think that's really at the basis of why you milk Jerseys only. It isn't about...you get around other breeds that milk cows and it's the first thing they'll tell you is how many pounds of milk they're shipping a day. But they never mentioned components. And it really does boil down to how many pounds of fat you're producing a day, how many pounds of protein you're producing a day, and how much feed did it take to produce those pounds? And maybe the overall figure is less than another breed of cows, but the profit at the end is higher. It took less feed to produce that amount of component. So, we've always been focused on that. And I think that's been part of our breeding philosophy even. And you're always continually trying to improve that. There was some talk early on in the episode about people comparing the Jerseys to goats and saying that they're not very profitable in terms of beef because of their medium stature. But I'm sure that there are some approaches to beef on dairy that can be very profitable with Jersey cows. Peter, do you have any tips and tricks for our listeners in terms of beef on dairy? Yes, our modern breeding strategy, or at least what the strategy we promote is a strategy where you genomic test your females to identify the very best ones. So the best half or the best 60-70%, even though they are not or the poorest ratio the best 50-70% of them are bred to beef because you have identified the ones that are to be mothers of the next generation; the higher ranking third to 50%. So if you do that there is a place for using beef on dairy. It might not be in the US that it'll be Danish Blue or Belgian Blue. I think there’ll be more black the ones that you use, Tom. But there's definitely an extra chance of income and also genetic gain by only using the very best for next generation. Tom, what do you use in terms of beef? So our current cross is actually Charolais, which most people hear Charolais and think, Oh man, too big calves. But it's worked really well. And the reason we use Charolais is we have a feedlot that contracts these calves and this has been in place for a couple of years now and, to be honest, the calving... They have bulls that are selected for calving ease. But we really haven't had any problems with... I can't say zero but very little calving difficulties and they are bringing a premium worth quite a bit of money right now. The beef beef price in the US is very high right now, so it is adding some very nice extra income to our bottom line. And currently, we’re probably using 50 to 60% Charolais semen in our breeding program right now. So we're using more sexed semen, almost all sexed semen on our virgin heifers and probably half sexed semen on our milking cows. Half conventional Jersey semen, and the other 50% or more is, you know, the lower half of the herd is getting bred or older cows Charolais. I’m a little bit surprised that you said Charolais. I would have thought that it was Angus, Angus, Angus. But nice that you try out something else and differentiate yourself from the mainstream. Yeah it varies from whatever region you are in the United States, but here, in the Pacific Northwest, it's predominantly Charolais is the cross to dairy. I was talking to some producers in California. They've got a program in place for Wagyu beef. so I think it just depends, who's feeding those calves in your area and what they have a market for. But, we've been on Charolais for probably a better part of two years now. Okay. But then, it makes me wonder whether I should bring in some beef to the US as well. Together with the Jersey semen. We've just established our new VikingGenetics US company, and I will definitely supply you with better and younger Jersey bulls in the future. But let's see if I'll bring some beef as well. And we can only hope so. As you say, Peter, we now have a USA subsidiary and before we conclude, do you guys have any words of wisdom for the farmers in the audience looking to make the most out of their Jersey cows? Peter? Well, I don't know if it's

words of wisdom, but some recommendations: 37:30

Follow the trends. Follow the trends in genetics and breeding. The new breeding values coming up that will support your breeding goal for a more sustainable herd and more sustainable products, it's feed efficiency, its emissions and other things could come up. It could be heat tolerance that also relates to animal welfare. It could be water efficiency. You mentioned it earlier, Tom, that the water is a limited resource in some places of the US. So, make use of whatever you can get hold of of genetics that is bred for the future. So, to me the future looks bright for the Jerseys. Yeah. I would just add that...and you touched on it...that just match your genetics to your milk market probably number one and environment number two and I often told people, I think genetics are one of the most underrated tools we have. And you know, I can see it just within our own herd. If you take my top 5% of my cows in my herd and what they're producing and look at our bottom 5%, and the difference between those animals. Put a dollar value on that. I think genetics play a bigger role than most farmers even think about on a daily basis. So, I think it's your goal to eliminate the bottom five and have more on the top five. And, like I said, continually improve that , but I think genetics are going to play more and more a role in our future profitability. Thanks for joining us on the BreedCast today. We've examined the VikingJersey breed and why it's an excellent choice for cheese and ice cream producers. We also discussed a few management tips for Jersey farming. If you want to learn more about VikingGenetics’ dairy and beef breeds, get tips and tricks of breeding and management and much more, please visit our website; VikingGenetics.com. Huge thanks to Peter Larson and Tom Seals for sharing their insights. A huge shout out to all of you out there for listening. If you have an idea for a topic in the world of cattle breeding or dairy farming you would like us to focus on, please visit BreedCast.com. Or messages on the VikingGenetics Facebook or Instagram pages. I'm your host, Tomás De La Rosa. Please join me for the next episode where we will discuss youngstock survival, gestation length and their importance for efficient beef production. You've been listening to the BreedCast- Innovative Breeding in your ears.