Pine-Valley Farm/ New Heights Jersey

• Owned by Jason, Leah, and their daughters; Brenlyn, Annika, and Everlea
• Mineral Point, Wis.
• of Registered Jerseys: 100 milk and dry cows; 110 Heifers
• of other dairy cattle breeds: 70 registered Holsteins and Milking Shorthorns milking; 80 heifers

The James family uses a variety of AJCA Programs to track and better their cattle including REAP, Type Appraisal, Genomic Testing, and JMS. Pine-Valley Farm has made breeding one of their top priorities to ensure their products meet a standard before their milk is shipped to Foremost Farms USA. When deciding to breed they only consider bulls with a positive percentage of fat, protein, and milk pounds. They then look at JUI and linear breakdowns. They also watch udder depth and rear udder width, and max ranking for Cheese Merit and JPI sires.

Different sire lines have impacted the family’s herd in different ways. Sunset Canyon Kyros was “a Breeders Satisfaction” bull for them. There have been two Excellent daughters coming from him, including one appraised Excellent-94%. “Chrome” and “Craze” also had some high-quality daughters. “Chrome’s” daughters have had the most consistent udders and they are currently milking five who are appraised Excellent. Lastly, “JX Co-op Ad World Cup (4)-ET” not only has had outstanding daughters, but also produced a son who was a former #1 GJPI bull for the James family.

Their favorite success story goes back to the first Jerseys they bought. They originally bought six heifers who all went on to have heifer calves. One cow family that has stood out from the start is Circlehawk Tbone Regina who scored Excellent-94%. Her and “Kyros” daughter came together - Circlehawk Kyros Rizzo of PVF. She also went on to score Excellent-94% and has three Excellent milking daughters. Pine-Valley wants to put these successful cows to use and increase the number of Jerseys they have. They are turning to IVF technology and working with females focused on type and genomics.

The farm’s Jerseys are not the only breed they have had success with. They also have a herd of registered Milking Shorthorns who have won awards. The herd has bred multiple All Americans including a Senior and Reserve Grand Champion of the World Dairy Expo International Milking Shorthorn Show last year. The family and their partner, Corstar, are proud of the high ranking for Pine-Valley P Junebug EXP, Excellent-94%.