Huffard Awarded by AJCA for Distinguished Service
James “Jimmy” Huffard III, Crockett, Va., has been selected as a recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Service Award presented by the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA).
The Distinguished Service Award is presented by the Board of Directors to as many living AJCA members and/or members’ families, who, in their opinion, have rendered outstanding and unselfish service for many years and thereby made a notable contribution to the advancement of the Jersey breed in the United States.
Jimmy Huffard has built an impressive reputation for himself in the dairy industry. Being involved in countless leadership positions, developing noteworthy genetics, marketing Jersey products, and forging friendships and mentorships with fellow breeders are just some of what he has accomplished in his career with the Jersey breed.
Huffard Dairy Farm, home to Schultz Jerseys, has been a prominent herd in the Jersey business for nearly 100 years. The farm has been operating under the slogan of “Production- Pure Genetics Since 1929” in their dairy practices and farm promotion. The land and farm have been in the Huffard family for over 200 years, and the farm has been recognized as a Century Farm by the Virginia Department of Agriculture.
Jimmy began dairying full-time after his graduation from Virginia Tech in 1975 with his father. His focus has always centered around improving the Jersey breed and marketing her products. He has accomplished those focuses through operation of the dairy, serving as a co-owner of Duchess Dairy Products and operates his own independent nutrition consulting company, Rationale Inc.
“While breeding programs may be his passion, he has morphed into so much more from nutrition, milk manufacturing, milk marketing, politics, and the globalized dairy industry,” writes Jeff Ziegler, Ostrander, Ohio, vice president dairy cattle breeding at Select Sires, Inc.
“Jimmy is one always willing to step forward in leadership and support of the Jersey cow and the breed programs,” said David Chamberlain, Wyoming, N.Y., former AJCA president.
Huffard has a long history of supporting the American Jersey Cattle Association as well as National All-Jersey, Inc., (NAJ) in leadership positions and by other means.
Having a strong leader is imperative for the improvement of many things in life. Huffard has taken that role seriously in many ways for the improvement of the Jersey breed.
He served on the AJCA Board of Directors from 1988 to 1994 and then president from 2001 to 2004. While on the AJCA board he was the chair of the Breed Improvement Committee and instrumental in helping to develop the Functional Trait Index, now a primary component of Jersey Performance Index (JPI).
He has served on the NAJ board and as vice president since 2009. He also serves as the NAJ finance chair and member of the Joint Operations Committee.
“He has always taken any duty or office willingly and led with dignity and thoughtfulness,” said Charles Steer, Cottage Grove, Tenn., former AJCA board member in his letter of support.
Jimmy has sat on several Jersey committees through the years. One of his main roles has been the Type Advisory Committee where he currently serves as the technical advisor. He is a member of the AJCC Research Advisory Committee and the Investment Advisory Committee. In the early 2000s, he chaired the Vision 21 Committee looking ahead to the future of the Jersey breed. He was a founding member and former president of Dixieland Jersey Sires Inc.
If these examples of involvement in the association are not plenty Jimmy also is a 40-year Equity Investor, a contributor to the AJCC Research Foundation, a past dean for Jersey Youth Academy (JYA), as well as the 2013 keynote speaker for JYA. He donated the 2017 Cow Pie Bingo calf in support of JYA fund raising. On top of all of these contributions of time Jimmy was the 2010 general chair of the All American Shows and Sales and was instrumental in implementation of the Genetic Diversity Program for AJCA.
“If one were to survey the dairy industry, especially AJCA leadership positions and boards of directors over the past 35 years. It quickly becomes obvious that Jim Huffard has been elected president more often than FDR,” Richard “Dick” Smith, Waunakee, Wis., writes in his letter of support.
Not only has Jimmy worked to improve the Jersey cow, but the dairy industry as a whole. He is the current president elect of National Dairy Shrine.
Closer to home he is an integral part of Virginia agriculture and the community surrounding the farm. He is a board member of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Supportive of further education in agriculture, he was the chair of the Agricultural Business Technology Advisory Committee of Wytheville Community College. He has served the Wythe County Planning Commission for 26 years, 14 of those years as chair of the commission. He is a former board member for the Virginia Purebred Dairy Cattle Association
Jimmy has been recognized numerous times for his involvement and success in the dairy industry on the local, national, and international stages.
His accolades began with a national recognition as a recipient of the 1982 American Jersey Cattle Club Young Jersey Breeder award. The acknowledgement from his peers continued by receiving the Outstanding Young Farmer Award presented by the Jaycees in 1983. In 1986 he was honored with the Virginia Tech William M. Etgen Outstanding Alumnus Award. The W. Ray Murley Award was given to Huffard in 1997 as Virginia Outstanding Dairyman. In 2001 he received the Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year of Virginia. He received the 2010 Virginia Dairy Industry Award presented by the Virginia Tech Dairy Science Club.
He received another national level accolade in 2008 as AJCA Master Breeder. He was named National Dairy Shrine’s Distinguished Cattle Breeder in 2012. And in 2014 he earned World Dairy Expo’s Dairyman of the Year.
The genetics developed under the Schultz prefix have proven themselves to be among the best the breed has to offer. There have been 91 Jersey bulls placed into A.I. service from the Huffard Dairy Farm. These bulls include Schultz Performing Legend, Schultz Brook Hallmark and more recently Schultz Legal Critic-P and JX Schultz Volcano Harris {4}. The Huffard’s have bred 341 Excellent cows including Schultz Hallmark Chill, Excellent-94%, and Fairway Mor Lenda-ET, Excellent-94%. The Fairway prefix represents one of the many successful partnerships Huffard has forged. This one with friend and former professor- Dr. Joe Lineweaver.
The exceptional genetics are shown in the bulk tank as well. Huffard has bred 1,430 cows with over 20,000 lbs. milk, including JX Schultz Vandrell Dexxie {3} with 30,930 lbs. milk and JX Schultz Rondo 5187 {4}-ET with 29,310 lbs. milk.
“Digging into the pedigrees of the high impact Jersey sires of profit in December 2022, a close look at the list revealed 21 of the 30 had a Huffard bred bull within the five-generation pedigree,” wrote Dick Smith.
Huffard Dairy utilizes numerous services provided by USJersey. These include REAP, JerseyTags, JerseyMate, BullsEye, genomic testing, contract advertiser with Jersey Journal, and a farm website hosted by USJersey. Duchess Dairy utilizes the brand Queen of Quality through NAJ.
Jimmy has traveled the world as well to promote the Jersey breed. He served as a delegate to World Jersey Cattle Bureau meetings. In 2002 he spoke at the Dairy Profit Seminars at the World Ag Expo. The Huffards hosted a virtual farm tour for World Dairy Expo in 2007. In 2014 he made his way to South Africa to speak about milk marketing at the World Jersey Cattle Bureau meeting. And in 2018 he went to both Brazil, to work with the Association of Jersey Brazil, and China to speak with their agricultural industry.
Calvin Graber, the 2021 Distinguished Service award recipient summed Huffard’s service to the breed best when he said, “While the Jersey nation has been blessed to have many people available to lend capable service, James S. Huffard III has provided unparalleled leadership throughout his lifetime.”
