Your age: 24

Your location: Jefferson, Oregon

My dairy’s history: Desert Park is a registered Jersey farm established in 1983. My dad started out milking 350 cows on a dairy he leased in Mesa, Arizona. He expanded and bought a dairy west of Phoenix in 1993 where we milked 1,300 cows.

Later, we downsized the dairy to make it more family-oriented and moved to where we are today, in Oregon, where we milk 450 registered Jerseys.

If I wasn’t a dairyman, I would be… I would love to be a sire analyst. If not that, I would want to in some way work with dairies, maybe as an A.I. technician or semen salesman.

I have been a member of U.S. Jersey since... 1987. My dad was a member back then and he had all of us boys signed up as members as soon as we were born. I have since graduated into a lifetime membership.

I joined U.S. Jersey because... when I was younger I didn’t really realize all the reasons why it was beneficial to be a member. I just thought it was “cool.” I owned my own Jersey cow and I was a member of an association!

I have since come to realize the benefits, mainly REAP (Registration, Equity, Appraisal and Performance), along with other services like JerseyMate, Herd View, genomic testing and infoJersey – where I probably spend too much time looking up and studying Jersey pedigrees.

A little-known fact about U.S. Jersey is… The American Jersey Cattle Association is the oldest dairy breed registry organization in the U.S.

My favorite U.S. Jersey representative or employee is... Everyone is awesome. The staff members really go above and beyond to help understand and fix issues that come up. But my favorite employee might be Sara Barlass. She is so much fun to score cows with!

I feel valued as a member when… I  have an issue about registration or parentage, have a genomic question, need info on an upcoming Jersey sale – really anything that I don’t understand – and there is someone at the office ready and willing to help me.

An influential or interesting person whom I’ve met through U.S. Jersey is… Herby Lutz. He has always been someone I’ve looked up to, from the very first time he came to the dairy in Arizona 10 years ago, when I was just 14, to select a cow for a sale. I still look up to him and bug him probably more than I should, but he’s always willing to give me his opinion and encouragement.

I hope my dairy legacy is… That I will be remembered as someone who loved the Lord, was a good steward with the gifts God gave me, did business with integrity, was a person of humility and could always be called upon to help in time of need.

My advice to all dairymen and dairywomen is… It’s not the easiest job in the world, but enjoy the opportunity you have been given to be part of the dairy industry. Life’s too short to take for granted.  PD

American Jersey Cattle Association
6486 E. Main Street
Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-2362
(614) 861-3636

Year organized… 1868

Number of members… 2,300

Mission statement of the association:  
To improve and promote the Jersey breed and to increase the value of and demand for Jersey cattle and Jersey genetics.