The environmentally friendly Jersey cow is gaining popularity in Limburg. The cows emit 20 percent less nitrogen for the production of 100 kilos of cheese, compared to the traditional Dutch Holstein cows.
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The cow can therefore play a role in reducing nitrogen emissions.
Light brown
At Hobbelrade in Spaubeek, the cows graze quietly in the pasture. The well-known black and brown and white cows, the Holsteiners, immediately stand out. But if you look a little closer, you will also see several smaller cows. Not spotted white, but light brown. “Those are my Jersey cows,” says dairy farmer Jean-Pierre Kerckhoffs. During a trip to Australia he came into contact with the little cow and fell in love with it. That’s why he started breeding the breed a few years ago.
Fuller milk
According to him, the cow has several advantages. “She is smaller than the traditional cow. As a result, she eats less and needs less feed, ”says the dairy farmer. As a result, the cow also produces less manure and nitrogen. It is also an efficient cow. “He may produce less milk compared to a Holstein cow, but the milk does have more protein and fat. As a result, fewer liters of milk are needed to make cheese, for example. ”
In the future he wants to increase the number of Jersey cows in his stable. “We now have a hundred cows, 25 of which are Jersey. That should turn 50 in the future. ”
Breeding program
Not only Kerckhoffs believes in the future of the Jersey cow. More and more farmers are showing interest in the variety, as KI Samen in Grashoek has noticed. That is why the sperm bank for cows started a breeding program in January. “In America, the number of Jersey cows has increased significantly in recent years. And here too demand is increasing, ”says Gerard Scheepens, director of the artificial insemination station.
Terrain gain
The breed, which comes from the English Islands, is now especially popular in Denmark, England and the United States. But due to the nitrogen problem, the variety is also gaining ground in the Netherlands. He expects that within five years about 5 percent of the cows in our country will be inseminated with semen from a Jersey cow. “Within about fifteen years, I expect that about 15 to 20 percent of the 1.5 million cows in the Netherlands will be of this breed. Now that is only half a percent. ”
Nitrogen
The company believes in the breeding program because the cow can play a role in reducing nitrogen emissions. “An American study shows that 109 Jersey cows are needed to get the same amount of milk from 100 Holstein cows,” Scheepens explains. “But those 109 cows use 32 percent less water and emissions are 20 percent lower. That is a significant gain. ” That is why farmers, who are allowed to keep fewer cows due to the nitrogen and phosphate standards, are allowed to keep more Jersey cows. “But even then they produce a lot less nitrogen.”
End of pied cow?
Yet the familiar pied primeval cow will not disappear from the pasture overnight. “Not every farmer will switch to the Jersey”, Scheepens also knows. “There are farmers who have just built a new barn. They do not choose the breed. The stables are made for much larger cows. ” In addition, Dutch farmers have yet to be convinced of the benefits of the Jersey cow. “That is why more research needs to be done in the Netherlands.”
Cons
Kerckhoffs also does not think that all colleagues will immediately switch to the environmentally friendly cow. Because the Jersey also has disadvantages. “Because they are small, for example, they yield a lot less when they go to the slaughterhouse,” he knows. An adult Jersey cow can weigh about 450 kilos, a Holstein cow about 650 kilograms. In addition, substantial investments must be made. In the purchase or breeding of new cows. “But a milking robot also needs to be adapted, for example.” The character of the animal is also different. “They are much more curious. Want to know what’s going on. A Holstein cow is much less so. It is very different. “
Feeling
But the farmer himself is also important. “Many farmers have had the Holstein all their lives. They are used to it. They have a good feeling about it. And that is also very important. So I don’t think the Jersey will leave the traditional black-and-white cow out of the pasture in the short term. expel. “
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