Blunder threatens the Jersey breed
Thursday 18th February 2010, 3:00PM GMT.
Two of the calves born after the mistake. Eight farmers are thought to have over 100 cows impregnated with the imported semen Picture: DAVID FERGUSON (00893370)
MORE than 100 Island cows have been impregnated with non-pure Jersey bull semen after a mistake by an American breeding company.
The error was discovered just five months after the first calf using imported semen was born in the Island, two years after a ban was lifted.
Nine calves have now been deleted from the Jersey Herd Book after it was revealed that their father, a bull known as Gannon, has a Red Holstein ancestor. Eight farmers in Jersey are thought to have more than 100 cows that are pregnant with calves sired by Gannon.
James Godfrey, chief executive of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society. said that though the mistake was regrettable, it proved that nothing could slip through the net. ‘The pedigree status remains as before and the herd book remains uncompromised,’ he said.
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Well this was obviously going to happen with imported semen wasn’t it?
I hope the farmer sues the Yanks’ *ss*s off!
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Why slaughter the innocent calfs.
Why not just ship them out of the island ?
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HOW DARE THEY? Another case of the so called professionals claiming desent islanders money by doing amaturist work.Do not worry our jersey milkers only,you beautifull cows.Now then even though we know our jersey farmers will be seeking compensation.We the defenders of the pure breed jersey cows,would like all the famers of the 100 affected jersey cows to read this to there jersey cows.At the same time we know the affected jersey farmers will sue through the american courts for $1 million per pure breed jersey cow who sadly feels as though (because of the americans not doing there jobs properly.)that they are no longer pure breed jersey cows.
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I think the old American adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies here.
Why our cattle breeders ever got it into their minds to buy “Jersey” semen from a foreign source totally eludes me. I cannot think of a single reason why.
Oh sorry, I can answer my own question: it was cheaper than purchasing semen from a local, Jersey, source. Silly me.
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‘Nothing could slip through the net’?
Small consolation to those farmers who calves are going to be ‘deleted’ from the book.
A fairly costly slipup would be a better assessment. Now I wonder who is going to pay for this mistake?
(I am thinking of another euphemism for mistake, but the cows didn’t have the benefit of one, so I’ll leave it to your imagination).
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I think this is a good way to ruin 250 years of hard work in a few months…. How long before something slips through the net?
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Yer gorra larf ain’t yer, yet another example of States mis-management, still look on the bright side, oh sorry there isn’t one !!!
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Did anyone else see this coming a mile off???
More haste less speed has never been so appropriate!!!
Another fine mess!
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Goodness; what a cock up. I agree with PJG “Why slaughter the innocent calfs. Why not just ship them out of the island?” I know farmers in the U.K. who’d gladly rescue them.
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@ PJG #2
“Why slaughter the innocent calfs…”
Veal?
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We could all see this coming. But no one would listen at the time. What more can be said??????
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Thirty two years ago, at the Warwickshire College of Agfriculture, which I was attending at the time. It was decide to see if the Jersey could produce a beef cross, so Charolais, the then wonder breed, and Aberdeen Angus were tried. the result was very distressing. The calfs were to large for the cows. A number had to be destroyed.
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Absolute disgrace killing the calves just because they weren’t born with the right genes.
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Is this really a political issue? Farmers should be making their own economic decisions. If they want to maintain a herd with pure island only stock it is easy enough for them to control the breeding and do so, in due course there may be premium for maintaing such a herd but may be not.
If a farmer uses imported semen then he will not have a pure island only herd it is his choice and he will have to face the future economic consequences of the choice.
From a political perpective allowing the importation of milk could be the correct choice as the cost of the present policy may not be sustainable long term.
The sooner all the hard economic choices the island has are faced up to the better.
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I think it will be a terrible thing if calfs or cows have to be killed – no hang on isn’t that why they were bred?
Importing Jersey bull semen to keep the island herd pure, anyone else find this hilarious?
Brewery/ drinking session/organise/couldn’t – rearrange into a well known phrase.
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I said 2 years ago that would be the end of the Jersey herds or what’s left of them in Jersey. Scarcer than hens teeth!!!
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OOoops!!
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If the Jersey breed is corrupted does that mean that we will be paying £1.47for 6 pints ( that’s 6 pints at 568ml per pint, not 6 times the paltry 500ml that passes for a pint over here ) like I do in the UK at Asda. I do hope not, I enjoy paying more than double for my milk, what next bread? a wholemeal sliced loaf for less than £2.28, 87 pence a loaf is all well and good but what would you do with the extra money.
I fear the Jersey way of life is in danger of being eroded.
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wot a shame for the poor money makers in jersey never mind abour the poor calfs that were the innocent victims so much for us being an island of animal lovers just cos humans make mistakes the calfs have to die i agree with other peoples comments why could’nt the calfs have shipped to another country der ???? i am sure that the animal lovers of jersey would have paid or why not just castrate the bulls at leats they would be
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A strange culture, The Jersey man has been happy over the years for the Jersey ladies to be impregnated by outsiders but when it comes to the cows…….
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These calves prove that something did slip through the net or they wouldn’t be here. Doesn’t mean they should be slaughtered though, its the price you pay for a change that should never have been allowed to happen.
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This incident just confirms that our Council of Ministers are totally inept and controlled by those just wanting to make a fast buck. They were warned by local industry breeders, who go back generations, that lifting the restrictions would result in disaster and now its happened, despite assurances by those who are supposed to be expert advisers to the States and the industry that nothing could go wrong. The Chief Executive of the department and the Minister responsible for the industry along with all the States members who voted in fovour of lifting the restrictions should now be painfully put down, but sadly the only thing that will be destroyed will be the innocent animals who didn’t ask to be born. Just listening to the pathetic excuses and assurances that this will not affect the purity of the Jersey Cow makes me ashamed to be a Jerseyman. Its just another thing that used to make Jersey special, along with lots of others, that has gone to the dogs.
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No doubt Darwin is spinning in his grave… Can someone please explain to me how it’s possible to get “pure” Jersey bull semen from America? Surely all we need to do (although I personally am not inclined to volunteer for the task), is find a locally bred albeit lonely bull, put him in a field with Jersey’s finest and allow him to do his bit for the species?
NJ
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why anyone thinks the jersey herd is worth preserving is beyond me. everyone knows inbreeding is dangerous and with the herd numbers falling we will soon have bango plucking cattle with two heads
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Can’t just they give the calves away? I bet a lot of people would want them
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What a load of old bull
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@ BARBARA #25
“…I bet a lot of people would want them…”
As what, a pet? Cows are not pets, they’re a source of food, or something to line the inside of your car with. Farm animals like the Jersey cow are a product of farming, not evolution; if they didn’t taste so good or leak such wholesome milk they’d be redundant and most likely extinct.
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Wanting only a pure breed ? sounds like some of the occupation rubbed off eh?
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As other posters have said, anyone who applied even a tiny mind to this issue could have seen this coming. Commercialisation, progress, development, whatever you call it, gets the nod every time, whether its ill-effects are foreseen or not. How about changing the law back again to keep Jersey cows special? They are just NOT the same when bred in other parts of the world, specially after several generations who adapted to different climates and food. How can they possibly be Jersey, when they have not eaten a blade of J-grass or breathed the sea-air or vraic?
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Before passion overrules reason and distracts one into petty details and side issues , let everyone understand that this so called “Mistake” was not an accident – just follow the money!
“To Achieve World Government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men, [Jerseymen] their individualism, their loyalty to family, their traditions and NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION”
Brock Chisholm – Director of the World Health Organization – member of the “Club of Rome”!
So far, the many carpetbaggers who have invaded our Island, along with some of our own Progressive minded judicial idiots in positions they are totally unsuited for, have done a fairly good job of undermining our Norman Heritage and Island Identity.
It’s time for everyone to ask, who is really running our Island? Who is really directing the overall agenda? Who is the real ‘Beast’ in the woodpile and from where are the outside forces coming that are directing our Island life and the life of your family? Ask yourself, “What do you really know about ‘The Club of Rome?”
Click on – http://green-agenda.com/globalrevolution.html
And you will find the answer to be quite frightening, especially when you read about their Progressive goal of One World Rule, Eugenics and their plans for Population Control! Discover who is behind “The Club of Rome” (“Club” as an instrument of, ‘Do it our way or else you are going feel it’.) and start joining up the dots, including those in own back yard – especially the ones your children are being exposed to – time to stand up and be counted.
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Surely they will be more intelligent if there mixed,anyway at least they wont be interbred!
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To vegetarian.
Most male calves are killed and fed to the animals at the Zoo.
We are responsible as we have voted for those clowns!!!!
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I assume now we have lost the 200 year pedigree we will be allowed to import cheap milk!!! Considering how keen our States members are to adopt every piece of EU legislation that they have so far forgotten that this ban is illegal.
What about the latest ban being applied to our fishermen or the fact that the EU refuse to grant any recognition to Jersey people hence the special “stamp” in our passports which if applied to any other group would be instantly condemned as racist.
I would certainly like to know what influence have the farmers got over our government as they appear totally spineless when representing the interests of the rest of us.
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In all seriousness you cannot maintain a closed herd over 100′s of years with the falling numbers that we have. Inbreeding leads to mutations which become magnified with every generation these are magnified. The current Jersey herd is suffering from this and the level of cows conceiving at first attempt is falling, milk yields are also low. The herd as we know it cannot survive without semen from bulls from outside the island. If we do not import bull semen the herd will die out, I really do not understand why so many do not recognise this fact?
Jersey farmers and the island as a whole should and can be justifiably proud that they created a breed which still produces the best milk in the world whether or not the cattle are bred on the island or not. If you can accept the lack of yield the beef is also very good as well. Even the British aristocracy recognised the fact in the 19th century that their inbreeding was causing genetic problems and specifically imported American female aristocracy (daughters of rich industrialists) to broaden the gene pool and reduce the necessity of locking a significant percentage of their children away in the garrets of their country houses.
Winston Churchill (even he had a cleft pallet) was the product of this process (American mother) and Jersey cattle are little different. Well apart from the fact that very few puff cigars and drink scotch whilst grazing.
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How did they bulls it up!
If the people in charge treat the animals like this what would they treat humans like!
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Boris 34 – you miss the point. It’s about non-pure Jersey bull semen being imported into the Island, a ‘mistake’ we are told that took five months to discover after the first calf using imported semen was born and two years after a ban was lifted.
A ‘Mistake’ that some unaccountable, overpaid idiots are now trying to blame on the American supplier. The questions to draw attention to are, was it a mistake, was it the usual pure incompetence or was it ‘something’ that was meant to slip by without being noticed?
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@ 20. Too true.
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Well, this came as no surprise to most then. At least it wasnt swept under the carpet like so many other issues in Jersey. Looks like the policy makers havent got away with it this time.
Such a shame that what was inevitable has been publicised!!
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i would just like to ask one question. will the americans be asked to pay for this mistake just like the jersey goverment seem to do every time they make one
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not as pets as dairy cattle, They could sell them to ppl that wont mind to have cross breed calves. and why not sell them to people that are in to hobbie farming. I can’t see why not
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Don’t get me wrong, I understand how serious the question is but i still think, probably there are a lot of farmer out of jersey island that would buy them.
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So what..are there not more serious matters to get worked up about. In any case 1000 years of inbreeding must surely not be good or natural.
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It is hard to believe how naive people commenting on here are! Oh, save the ‘poor little baby cows’ aww… GET REAL!
HOW DO YOU THINK THE SYSTEM WORKS?!? A cow produces milk duing and after pregnency, around 100 pints a day (approximately 100Kg of extra weight + the calf approx 25 – 30Kg) which they get very stressed and infected if they are not milked post birth however do you honestly think ANY of this milk is given to the calf?!?
After birth the calf is immedietely removed from the mother so to reduce the searching the mother does once the calf is inevitably removed so not to impact on milk production (and used for whateever; even calves for veal do not drink their mother milk!) and the mother continues to produce milk for around 300 days until the cow is inseminated again and the process starts again.
Thus; for every dairy cow you see a calf will have been slaughtered within the last twelve months…
Some of you may say that some of the calves are kept, well no; breed sizes do not vary much, there is too much to consider to go into it here but even as simple as the number of milking apperatus availiable on each farm which needs to be considered and generally farmers will only keep cows that milk well in the first place, why gamble on new offspring!
So what should happen if a calf is a bull? well then this is what this ENTIRE story is about!
= WHY IS IT FARMERS PREFER TO USE SEMEN RATHER THAN KEEP A BULL? It is cheaper to do this for each milking cow annually than it is to keep a bull! Simple.
So putting the pointless comments above aside regarding ‘saving the calves’… for reasons see above!! Also not entertaining the ideas of shutting down our local milk production facilities by allowing cheap milk to be imported!
The real question is why do we need to import semen and WHY if the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society really cares for the breed can they not keep a selection of bull for semen use here on Jersey away from unknown ancestory?!
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Just import the stuff at a fraction of the price and stop harping on about Jersey cows along with Jersey people, and Jersey this and Jersey that. get real! Break the monopoly up and save us all alot of cah in the process. This state of affairs is UTTERLY insane
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‘Just import the stuff at a fraction of the price and stop harping on about Jersey cows along with Jersey people, and Jersey this and Jersey that. get real! Break the monopoly up and save us all alot of cah in the process. This state of affairs is UTTERLY insane’
At the same time the multinational companies that now dominate the island’s main industry could shift their operations to a brass plate in the island and all the actual staff in India or elsewhere.
Indian bankers and lawyers are cheaper, better qualified and harder working than the average Jersey finance industry flake…
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43 Ex Farmer – like what you post! Because what you say boils down to Money – just follow the Money – the story of modern Jersey!
This was not the fault of some American supplier, it was the fault of the men actually responsible for overseeing the importation of impure bull semen into the Island.
The local people (we know who they are) who are responsible for allowing this so called”Mistake” to happen, should be fired and then sent to jail for permitting outside forces to undermine and destroy what little is left of our Island heritage – almost an act of Treason and for what – Money! Destroy the pure breed and you help destroy the Island’s true Identity!
Again allow me to remind everyone:
“To Achieve World Government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men, [Jerseymen included] their individualism, their loyalty to family, their traditions and NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION”
Brock Chisholm – Director of the World Health Organization – member of the “Club of Rome”!
Ask yourselves, “who, besides Money and Common Purpose, is really running our Island?” ‘The Club of Rome?”
Click on – http://green-agenda.com/globalrevolution.html
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It has happened and that’s that !
However, it would be a pity to destroy the calves.
As someone suggested, sell the out of the island. There would surely be enough buyers for a few calves.
About two years ago, I saw a Jersey/Gloucester cross. It was a fine looking animal and the rare breed made for a larger Jersey looking animal. I have a photo of it somewhere on this computor and would show it if there was the mechanics available.
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ExFarmer #43
The Jersey Bull #46
If as you both appear to be saying its all about money, why on earth protect the breeds purity.
The beef is full of yellow fat and basically unsellable, except to die hard locals (“they” even say ormers taste good ?).
The milk is double the price of many other breeds and don’t talk about the taste its been robbed of all its cream before its even been put in those silly waxed paper containers.
J Lamborrari
Not veal, that’s the destiny of the calf’s used to keep the cows lactating. These calf’s were the product of expensive semen, flown from the other side of the world to improve the local gene stock, no way were they destined for the oven, Bully down the road is more than capable of that.
So apart from not being “pure” one can only surmise these calf’s were designed to be superior in some way.
So again I ask why destroy them or is it just that, they are superior and farmers dont want the competition ?
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PJG – The rich marbling of fat is what makes Jersey Beef delicious, and I’m no die hard old mov!
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