Focusing on fertility and longevity, and building good community relations, have formed the foundations of success for one of the largest dairy units on the Island of Jersey.
TEXT LAURA BOWYER
Despite the limited geographic size of Jersey and logistical challenges associated with island life, producer Charlie Le Boutillier and his family have developed a high-yielding dairy herd that maximises the productive potential of their 300 Jersey cows.
The herd was established 100 years ago and, with Charlie’s passion for dairying and his drive towards maintaining herd health and improving milk from forage, it should remain profitable for the foreseeable future.
Charlie runs Woodlands Farm, which is just south of the island’s centre, with help from his family and four full-time staff. And he says Jerseys are unique animals: “I would never consider keeping any other breed. You can achieve fantastic yields with Jerseys, and they give our island the ‘green fields and brown cows’ image it is loved and known for.”
There are only a dozen dairy units on the island and his family’s is one of the largest. Cows achieve average yields of 7,800 litres, at 5.8% butterfat and 4.0% protein. Cows are milked twice a day through a 14:28 herringbone swing-over parlour, and milk is sold to the producer-owned Jersey Dairy. Developing this strong performance has been a gradual multigenerational project, with the team celebrating the herd’s centenary year in 2023.
Herd fertility
Achieving good herd fertility has been a key focus for Charlie and previous generations of his family. As a result, the herd is now achieving excellent results, with an average heifer age at first calving of 23 months old. Herd pregnancy rate is 35%, with a 60-day voluntary waiting period.
Charlie runs a closed herd, with sexed semen purchased via the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society, which only allowed semen from either the UK or further afield to be imported to the island in 2008. When selecting semen and making breeding decisions, he looks at A2A2 sires with the herd on its way to being fully A2A2. A2A2 milk is a variety of cows’ milk that predominantly contains A2 β-casein proteins. These are thought to be more digestible than the alternative A1 proteins.
“When selecting sires, we’re also looking for good health, mobility, and milk production, and there’s particular emphasis on fertility,” adds Charlie.
Breeding for longevity is another important consideration, and the family aims to produce cows that complete at least 10 lactations.
The unit is also home to a butchery and farm shop, and Aberdeen Angus semen is used to produce beef-cross calves. These are reared, finished and processed on farm. Retail and restaurant demand for their beef is increasing, and around 150 finished Jersey-bred beef cattle and 250 cull cows are now processed each year.
“The quality of Jersey-cross beef is fantastic,” says Charlie. “The carcase carries yellow fat and what it may lack in quantity, it makes up for in quality.”
Jersey-cross beef: meat is processed on farm
Forage utilisation
The island’s climate is conducive to good grass growth and Charlie aims to graze cows from March through to December, if conditions allow. In recent years there has been a renewed focus on the unit to produce as much milk from home-grown feed as possible, and this has influenced the family’s approach to forage production and utilisation.
A multi-cut system is used to make silage and first cut is taken in April, and then every five weeks after that. “The aim is to take four or five cuts by the end of the season, most of which is clamped, though a small number of bales, both hay and silage will also be made,” explains Charlie.
As well as grass, about 60 hectares of forage maize is grown for silage each year, and the crop usually performs well due to the island’s warm summers. The family carries out as much forage field work as possible and the business has a part share in a forage harvester to provide more flexibility when timing silage cuts. “We do all our own tractor work, whether slurry spreading, silaging or baling. It means we are in control,” he adds.
A paddock-based, rotational grazing system is used to maximise the herd’s intake of grazed grass on the unit’s 68-hectare platform. Cows are moved between paddocks every 12 hours, with the platform’s grass covers walked and assessed by Charlie or one of the farm team every week.
ForFarmers’ Ben Trott helps to oversee the herd’s ration, visiting the unit a few times a year, as well as providing Charlie with advice remotely.
The herd is fed a partial mixed ration comprising 60% maize and 40% grass, as well as fats, minerals, yeast, maize meal and ForFarmers’ pelletised blend Pellemix. Concentrate is fed at a flat rate of 0.5kg per cow through the parlour, while Optima Match Levucell 18 is fed to yield using out-of-parlour feeders. “The herd’s feed rate is currently 0.28kg of concentrate per litre, and the diet is supporting milk yields while also utilising plenty of forage,” says Ben.
Community support
An outbreak of botulism hit the herd in 2022, resulting in the loss of 132 cows. It was a testing time, but one that the local farming community helped the family to overcome.
This recovery process was aided by the supply of some local cows that were destined to join the Windsor pedigree Jersey herd, as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilee celebrations. With the shipment delayed due to the Queen’s death and with the news of Charlie’s situation reaching the King Charles, the cattle were gifted to Charlie before they left the island.
“There are only 12 dairy farms on the island, and we are an extremely tight community,” explains Charlie. “If it wasn’t for the support of other producers on Jersey, I am not sure we would have coped. We all share a close and unique bond.”
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