A Jersey Starts Florida 4-H Dairy Heifer Chain
A Registered Jersey heifer has established herself as the very first link in the newly established Florida 4-H Dairy Heifer Chain. Tucker Padgett of Molino, Fla., is the lucky recipient of the heifer calf donated by DJ McGlothern of Irish Oaks Farms, Fort Denaud, Fla. This new program hopes to offer 4-H members with the opportunity to become involved in dairy through the ownership and exhibiting of a donated heifer. Tucker will show her new project in at least two state shows.
Padgett was selected from a pool of applications by a panel of judges, having submitted a cover letter, 4-H resume, application, authentication of proper care, an essay and letter of recommendation. She is eligible to show the heifer in local, regional, state, and national dairy shows and while being fully responsible for daily care, feeding, health care, and training. When the heifer is of breeding age, she will work with the 4-H Dairy and Animal Science State Specialized Agent Christopher DeCubellis to select a bull for mating using sexed semen. The resulting heifer calf will start the process over for another 4-H member to win, continuing the chain.
“They (Jerseys) are an extremely versatile breed, in my opinion,” said Decubellis. “I feel they are an ideal breed because they are a phenomenal cow that makes an amazing family milk cow, producing milk high in butterfat and other components that is ideal for families to utilize the milk in a host of ways, and these animals also can perform well on commercial dairy operations.”
The essay Padgett wrote had to answer the question “what impact owning a Registered Jersey heifer will have on my life” in an essay.
“Winning this Jersey heifer means so much to me, it gives me a purpose to learn about the Jersey breed and all aspects of dairy industry,” Tucker says. “Learning to show a dairy animal is so exciting for me because beef cattle are all I have ever shown. This experience is going to take my family and I on adventures we never expected. I can hardly wait for our first show together.”
