Following in the wake of a $10,100 average for the first four consignments into the ring, the 53rd National Heifer Sale on June 26 averaged $4,547.40 on 44 lots, setting a new record average for the sale series.
“Amid challenging economic times in the dairy industry, a bold statement was made loud and clear that profitable Registered Jerseys are in demand,” said Dan Bauer, manager of Jersey Marketing Service (JMS). “All evening, heifers whose families featured the performance traits of profitability, extreme production, high components, and productive life commanded top prices.”
A four-month calf and potential seventh-generation Excellent from the “Anthem” family topped the sale $11,000. Sunset Canyon S Governor Anthem-ET was purchased by the Pacific Northwest Syndicate of Lynden, Washington. Her great-grandam, Sunset Canyon MBSB Anthem-ET, E-95, was the Premier Performance Cow of The All American Jersey Show in 2000, and has production to 37,087 pounds of milk, 1,732 pounds of fat and 1,383 pounds of protein. Further back in the pedigree is the E-93 Goodnow Midnight Blue-ET with 24,610 pounds of milk, 1,132 pounds of fat and 893 pounds of protein, her dam being foundation cow Observer Althea Anna, E-90 with lifetime production more than 200,000 pounds of milk.
The sale topper was consigned by the partnership of Sunset Canyon Jerseys, David Brown and Andrea Adams, Beaver, Oregon.
Jim Quist of Fresno, California, bid $10,500 for his choice of heifers due this October sired by BW Renegade-ET and out of the fourth-generation Excellent, Top 1.5 percent list cow, Sun Valley Impuls Holly-ET. Consignors Tom and Jennie Seals, Cloverdale, Oregon, offered to share the cost for genomic tests on the calves, which have a Parent Average of $540 Cheese Merit. A full brother to their dam, Sun Valley Impuls Honor-ET, is currently sixth among Active A.I. Jersey sires ranked by Jersey Performance Index (JPI).
The third-high seller was first into the ring and came from the sale hosts, Forest Glen Jerseys, Dayton, Oregon. Forest Glen Abes Shelly, a November senior calf, was purchased for $9,700 by Sebastian Faria, Willcox, Arizona. After the April genetic evaluations, she was the top ranked daughter of Ahlem Lemvig Abe-ET for Parent Average JPI. Her dam, Forest Glen Jevon Shelly, VG-87 and projected over 22,400 pounds of milk at 1-10, is currently ranked seventh in the breed by traditional JPI.
$9,200 was the winning bid from Desert Park Jerseys, Jefferson, Oregon, and Mountain Shadow Dairy, Litchfield Park, Arizona, for Pearlmont Jimmie Dawn-ET. One of nine consignments with genomic evaluations, she is out of the Excellent Pearlmont Impuls Daffy, ranked 17th for genomic JPI with five sons in A.I. Bred to BW Renegade-ET (GPTA $655 CM), the fourth-high seller was consigned by William Pearl, Barnet, Vermont.
The sale gross was $218,275. Ten percent of sale proceeds are designated for annual support of national Jersey youth development programs.
By categories, choice lots (4) averaged $6,275; heifer calves (20), $5,185; open yearlings (10), $3,370; and bred heifers (14), $3,855.36. Median price of the sale was $3,600.
“The crowd came early, stayed late and left with renewed optimism about milking Registered Jerseys,” JMS manager Dan Bauer said.
A detailed report on the sale will be published in the upcoming issue of Jersey Journal, now available by online subscription.
—From JMS news release
