James S. Huffard
III Honored As Jersey Master Breeder
July 1, 2008, Reynoldsburg,
Ohio—James S. Huffard III, Crockett,
Va., was honored as the sixty-fifth Master Breeder of the American Jersey Cattle
Association on June 27, 2008, in ceremonies during its Annual Meeting in
Asheville, N.C.
The Master Breeder award is
bestowed annually to a living AJCA member, family, partnership, or corporation
that, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, has bred outstanding animals for
many years and thereby made a notable contribution to the advancement of the
Jersey breed in the United States.
“Although some herds can lay
claim to more bulls enrolled in A.I. sampling programs, few have compiled the
record of breed-leading genetics that is the continuing legacy of the Huffard
herd,” says Mike Stiles, president of the Virginia Jersey Cattle Club. “The
consistent focus has been on deep cow families developed over numerous
generations in a commercial environment.
“When you apply that setting
and the depth of thoughtful analysis that Jim applies to planning every mating
in the herd, the genetic superiority of the bulls follows logically. His fellow
breeders around the globe have individual cows and whole herds that are much
more profitable as a result of his effective breeding program.”
Huffard Dairy Farms, located in the mountains of southwest
Virginia, has been in the family for more than 200 years. Jim’s grandfather,
James Schultz Huffard, Sr., acquired Registered Jerseys™ in 1929. He
established the guiding philosophy for Schultz Jerseys: production-pure
genetics with sound functional type.
Since he assumed management of
Huffard Dairy Farms in 1975, Jim Huffard has sent more than 60 bulls to A.I.
that bear the Shultz prefix or a prefix that is used for animals bred in
partnership (L&H, H&B, and Fairway).
Huffard was just 25 when he made
the mating that resulted in Schultz Performing Legend, who went on to sire
11,345 daughters and 535 sons recorded in the AJCA Herd Register. “Legend”
daughters were not just top producers; they had another characteristic which was
important to Huffard—longevity. In the U.S., Windy Acres Legend Carla,
Excellent-92%, topped a milk, fat or protein division of AJCA Leading Living
Lifetime Production Contest from 2001 to 2004, and Cherish Legend Rose,
Excellent-92%, ranked first in the milk and protein contests in 2002. In Canada,
Rexlea Performing Hostess-ET, SUP-EX 92-7E, earned the President’s Cup for
Lifetime Production from 2003 to 2006.
Schultz Brook Hallmark entered
Active A.I. service in May of 1999. He was one of the most heavily used
bulls in the breed and his popularity both domestically and internationally
garnered him ABS Diamond Sire status (1,000 milking daughters) in 2003. To
date, the American Jersey Cattle Association has registered 6,874 daughter and
sons, with at least as many “Hallmark” daughters recorded in Australia,
Canada, Great Britain and South Africa combined. In 2002, “Hallmark”
was the top sire of sons in the U.S., with 219 sons recorded with the American
Jersey Cattle Association.
The influence of “Hallmark”
now is being felt through his sons, which account for a dozen bulls on the
Active A.I. list. Among them are three Huffard-bred maternal brothers,
“Rescue,” “Redwood,” and “Restore.”
For 17 of the past 20 years,
Schultz Jerseys has ranked in the top 10 in the nation for production among
herds with 300 or more cows. Its 2007 AJCA lactation average of 20,435 lbs.
milk, 908 lbs. fat and 721 lbs. protein ranked eighth for milk and tenth
for protein among herds.
In 1985, Huffard became a founding member of Dixieland
Jersey Sires, Inc., the first breeder young sire sampling cooperative organized
in the Jersey breed. He served as that organization’s president.
He was elected President of the
American Jersey Cattle Association in 2001 and served in that position until
June of 2004. That followed two terms on the AJCA Board of Directors
(1988-1994). He has also served on the important AJCA Type Advisory Committee.
Huffard is currently
Vice-President and Director of National All-Jersey Inc. He is also chair of the
sale committee for the 2008 All American Jersey Show and Sale, and a member of
the AJCA Investment Advisory Committee.
He has been a member of the
Wythe County Planning Commission for over 20 years, six of them as commission
chair.
The American Jersey Cattle
Association, organized in 1868, compiles and maintains animal identification and
performance data on Jersey cattle and provides services that support genetic
improvement and greater profitability through increasing the value of and demand
for Registered Jersey™ cattle and genetics, and Jersey milk and milk products.
For more information on USJersey program and services, call 614/863-3636 or
visit the web site at www.USJersey.com
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