Longevity and High Fertility the Secret Behind New ABS Jersey Bull

WHEN a cow with a deep, long-lasting pedigree and high components walked through a Gippsland sale ring three years ago Mark and Philippa Flemming couldn’t resist buying her.

The couple from Western Victoria rarely buy cattle for their family’s Miami Jersey, which just celebrated 70 years of breeding in 2024 – but this time was an exception.

“She had a solid cow family and the cow herself – Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2, went on to be classified excellent 90 points after we bought her, so that made five generations of excellent cows and that’s just based on her type,” Mark said. 

“They are a really long-lasting cow family. Generations and generations had milked for seven, eight, nine and 10 lactations. There’s one there – four generations back – that milked for 11 lactations.”

Back in Western Victoria, it made sense for Mark and Philippa, who farm with their son Brenton, to combine the longevity traits of this unique cow family with the credentials of the highest fertility bull at the time, STARLORD.

The result – the new ABS outcross sire MIAMI HEATHSTAR (CSCHEATHSTAR) – a bull with high fertility, positive milk flow, high-wide rear udders, strong centre ligament and high survivability – positioned on the new August proof run as the number 16 Health Weighted Index sire.

Mark said these traits are sought after by commercial farmers, and while they all contribute to a farm businesses’ bottom line – longevity is especially vital for profitability.

“The longer that a cow is productive in your herd, she’s making you money,” he said.

“You only have to rear her once; it’s a big cost to rear an animal and calve her down as a two-year-old. The more productive lactations you can get out of a cow, she’s more profitable.”

Breeding bulls for artificial insemination is nothing new for Mark and Philippa, and their families – Philippa’s parents Ron (dec) and Glenyss Baker had Glenarron Jerseys, while Mark’s parents John and Gwen operated Miami Jerseys until 2007.

Mark and Philippa’s eldest son Mitchell and his wife Lindsey also farm and work in the herd improvement sector and show cattle at the best shows in Australia. 

Contributing to the national genetic pool is something the Flemmings have done for both Jerseys and Holsteins, for many years.

Mark and Philippa were part of the original Ginfo project 20 years ago, which meant their herd contributed data to the national reference herd for genetic information, now used by Datavat.

Genomics is a huge part of Mark and Philippa’s business. The Balanced Performance Index (BPI) is used as a guide for breeding decisions, but there’s also other considerations. The couple also assess type, balance and cow families in their breeding decisions and individually mate each of their 300 head herd.

With over 1200 animals genomically tested, the Flemmings have one of the highest rates of genomic testing uptake in the country – especially considering the size of their herd.

Their herd currently sits at 29 on the BPI rankings and they’ve bred a cow that hit the top five a couple of runs ago.

Mark said the DNA genomic technology has helped them concentrate further on fertility – a trait that’s not understandable without a genomic test.

So, it was no surprise that the positive fertility of Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2 EX-90 was one of the appeals of the three-year-old at the time, and when combined with Starlord – the joining made sense for their herd goals.

“She (Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2 EX-90) has five of six generations (including her at 104) behind her, that were positive for fertility,” Mark said. “The one (that wasn’t) was 99 and all the others were over 100. We didn’t expect to breed a bull that would go into AI out of her, we just thought we’d be breeding females. Starlord transmits high fertility and good type and the combination – when Heathstar was genomically tested he came up good enough to offer him to Central Sires Cooperative.”

Central Sires Cooperative have a partnership for sourcing local Australian bulls.

ABS Australia Business Operations Manager Bruce Ronalds said CSCHEATHSTAR made sense for the Australian market.

“He’s got huge commercial appeal as one of breed leading daughter fertility bulls in industry at 108,” he said.

“The Jersey industry has struggled for many years to find high daughter fertility bulls and then to add the strength of the cow family, his type and the fact he’s an outcross – we are expecting strong interest in him.”

Gippsland breeders Anthea Day and Trevor Saunders bred CSCHEATHSTAR’S dam, Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2 EX-90.

Her cow family has a special place in Anthea’s heart.

“The first registered animal that I ever owned was Kooroo Heather 18, she was my first 90-point cow, and she goes back to Gordon Lawson from Koorooman,” she said.

“ (Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2 EX-90) Great grandmother, Heather 38 was 14.5 when she calved her last calf – there’s good fertility, longevity, type and temperament in this line. Heather 38 was a Barber, she’d come towards you as if she was going to swallow you with her mouth – her massive muzzle – and she’s like a snuggle. Temperament was always good with their Heathers.”

Anthea and Trevor have two daughters from Araluen Park Navarian Heather 2 EX-90 in their 700 cow herd and Heathstar’s sister by Sturgess.

The latter animal has just been classified excellent as a second-calver, representing the sixth generation of EX-classified animals from this cow family – and something Anthea is incredibly proud of.

She said her and Trevor get “get excited” when their cows are purchased by other farmers and go onto huge things within the industry. 

“Mark and Philippa chose the cow and the joining, with a bull that ticked all the boxes and then bred a bull that got picked to go into AI service,” she said.

“That makes Trev and I feel great.”