BLACK cross-bred beef cattle and the importation of bull semen have convinced some Islanders that the era of the truly pure Jersey cow is at an end and that a breed of international importance and with an astounding heritage is doomed to fade and disappear.

There can be no doubt that the Island’s cattle industry is in the process of radical change, but very positive signs are there to be seen among the new developments.

We have, for example, a centre that is now devoted to all that concerns the Jersey herd. It can be found at the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society headquarters in Trinity – a site which could now be dubbed ‘Cattle Central’.

As well as being the home of the RJAHS, the Jersey World Cattle Bureau, and the artificial insemination service, the Trinity complex is now the home of the Jersey Dairy, the commercial organisation which, ultimately, makes sense of the whole cattle breeding and cattle rearing enterprise. In spite of what traditionalists might say about the dangers of diluting the integrity of the Jersey breed through the introduction of ‘alien’ genes, this integration must be a force for good.

There is, meanwhile, a feature of the new dairy that emphasises that the Jersey cow still has a special and well-deserved place in Jersey people’s hearts. The superb stainless steel panels featuring endearing images of cows that decorate the new building created by Jersey artist Nick Romeril capture the essence of a beast that has done so much to put the Island on the international map.

Driving or walking around our countryside brings us into regular contact with the breed which has prospered not only here but in some of the harshest environments around the world. In spite of this, Mr Romeril’s artwork is guaranteed to make anyone who sees it sit up and take fresh notice.

His inquisitive cows, full of personality and rendered with great skill, represent the essence of one of the phenomena that have made this Island so much more than a small, isolated community in the English Channel.

Mr Romeril is to be congratulated – as are the many people who have managed to transform what was once the States Farm, given to the Island by a generous benefactor, T B Davis, into the international focal point for the world’s most versatile and appealing milk animal.