New England to Host 2024 AJCA-NAJ Annual Meetings

Jersey breeders will convene for the annual meetings of the national Jersey organizations this summer in Springfield, Mass., for the third time in history. The two previous times, in 1937 and 1954, the meetings were hosted by Massachusetts Jersey breeders. This time, they will be hosted collectively by New England Jersey breeders from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

For many, the term “New England” conjures images steeped in history, like Pilgrims and Native Americans gathering for the first Thanksgiving, or rugged coastlines and colorful fall foliage. For foodies, New England might be associated with sweet maple syrup, steamy lobsters drenched with butter, clam bakes, wild blueberries and tart red cranberries.

Jersey breeders heading to New England this summer are more likely to regard the region as the “Breed’s Foundation,” and the words bloodlines, production and leadership may come to mind. One would be hard-pressed to find a Registered Jersey that does not include New England breeding at some point in its lineage.

Breeders and leaders from this part of the country steered the Jersey ship in the direction of production, setting it up for the position it now boasts as a profit maker for commercial and registered breeders alike.

In the first five and a half decades that the American Jersey Cattle Club (AJCC) named a Master Breeder, one of every four that received this pinnacle breeding achievement hailed from New England. Nine breeders from New England have served as AJCC presidents. Two from Vermont are also Master Breeders: Elbert S. Brigham of Brigham Farm, St. Albans (1947), and Harold Wright of Maplerow Farm, White River Junction (1995). Wright is also one of four New England Jersey breeders to earn the Distinguished Service Award.

Over the years, New England breeders have capitalized on their genetics by holding consignment sales like the Vermont State Sale, launched by the Vermont Jersey Breeders Association in the fall of 1935. Other clubs followed suit, including Massachusetts, with an annual sale first held in 1951, and New England, with a spring sale kicked off in 1952. Maine and New Hampshire breeders combined their efforts in the Northeast International Jersey Sale, held each year at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The New England Jersey Breeders Association also hosted the popular Eastern Regional Sale at a different location each summer.

In 2014, the Vermont State Sale and the New England Spring Sale were combined and rebranded as the Northeast Jersey Classic and Breeders Sale. The event was last held in 2019 before the pandemic, representing 84 consecutive years of sales hosted by New England breeders.

The popularity of New England genetics did not fade as these sales dwindled in the 1980s. Rather, there was a shift in the market as buyers called on farms directly. With the founding of the Hilmar Cheese Company in 1984, producers from California headed east, led by Phil Fanelli, to source cattle by the pot load and then ship them west. New England was ripe for the picking, loaded with deep-pedigreed, high-producing commercial cattle that fit the bill. More recently truckloads of cattle from the region have headed to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Idaho for growing milk markets there. Elite genomic cattle continue to come from farms in this part of the country as well.

New England has also been home to fancy show cows of today and yesteryear. In the “golden era of purebred cattle breeding,” farms like Pioneer and Vaucluse were a force on the tanbark trail, especially in the National Jersey Jug Futurity. The former, owned by former AJCC President Edward Lea Marsh Jr., Old Lyme, Conn., showed the 1958 National Grand Champion and a winner and two reserve winners of the futurity. Vaucluse, owned by Master Breeder Diana Ryan, Newport, R.I., showed the 1964 Reserve National Grand Champion and two winners and three reserve winners of the futurity.

Two other New England cows have been tapped National Grand Champion, including Huronia Centurion Veronica 20J, who earned the title in 2004 for Arethusa Farm, Litchfield, Conn., and was also voted winner of the 2015 Jersey Journal Great Cow Contest. The Overall Premier Performance Winner for the 2008 All American Jersey Show, Billings Remake Bounty, was shown by Billings Farm of Woodstock, Vt. In the junior show, Megan Hill of Bristol, Vt., showed the overall winner, Four-Hills Velocity Gloriana, in 2019 and took home the Premier Breeder banner as well.

Other up-and-coming Jersey breeders have also begun to make their marks on the breed and are carrying the leadership torch. Young Jersey Breeder awards have been presented to 14 producers from Vermont, four from New Hampshire, three from Maine and three from Massachusetts. Some are continuing legacies established by their parents or grandparents. Others are breaking into dairying as first-generation dairy producers.

Junior New England Jersey breeders have also been recognized for achievements, largely in production contests. Mark Russell, Turnbridge, Vt., won the National Jersey Youth Production Contest in 1971 and his brother, Scott, topped it in 1979. Donna Merrell, Alstead, N.H., won the Pot O’Gold Production Contest in 1967 and Richard Bourne, Old Lyme, Conn., took the honors in 1977. More recently, Andrew McReynolds, Danbury, Vt., earned the top prize in both contests, winning the Pot O’Gold in 2017 and the youth production contest in 2022. In the National Jersey Youth Achievement Contest, Timothy Abbott of Cabot, Vt., was named winner in 1984.

As we gather once again in Springfield, the birthplace of volleyball and basketball, let’s celebrate New England. Fittingly, breeders from this region have swept the major awards to be presented at this year’s meetings. Pearlmont Farm, Barnet, Vt., will be honored with the Master Breeder award, John Kokoski, Hadley, Mass., will receive the Distinguished Service Award and Brenda Snow, Brookfield, Vt., will be given the Award for Meritorious Service.

For a complete schedule, click here.

Official farm tours are scheduled for Powder Hill Farm, UConn Dairy, High Lawn Farm and Mapleline Farm. But with so many other great farms to visit, cows to see and places to experience, plan some extra time for your trip to New England this year.