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P43/2008 Importation of semen – briefing note
Extracts from relevant reports
Dr Donald McQueen - 2003
"All milk producers use artificial insemination on their best cows for herd replacements but most also have one or more bulls for running with heifers and for mating with the cows not selected for AI. Where mating is not specifically for replacements the quality of the bull is of little consequence for few female calves , and no male calves, have any commercial value"
Milk production in Jersey is a high cost business compared with other parts of Western Europe. The reasons lie in a combination of high input costs, farm structure, land tenure arrangements, low yields from the native Jersey breed and the low value of surplus stock."
Dr Maurice Bichard – 2003
"The clear conclusion is that RJA&HS should recognise that it cannot operate an internationally competitive closed breed improvement scheme for the Islands cattle. It would be of benefit to the island farmers and their customers if importation of Jersey breed semen were permitted with due attention to the exclusion of disease. It is recommended that an application be made to the States to revoke the long standing prohibition on such imports"
Promar International – 2006
"there is a need for better genetics to survive – even if it takes 10 years to see the full benefit of this and the ban on imports on to the island is challenged"
"A further issue arising from the import of semen is that it should enable dairy farmers to select bulls with type traits, which would also potentially bring financial advantage through greater longevity, for instance"
"The view that the Island does not need extra milk that is likely to result from the import of genetics is one that is hard to justify. This is because the imported genetics would enable farmers to either produce the same amount of milk from less cows , or to maintain a similar number of cows producing a similar milk yield but using less feed. There is particular merit in both these options in Jersey because of the low value of cull cows and calves and because of the high cost of imported feed".
"The lack of exports of livestock from Jersey in recent years shows that dairy farmers in other countries currently place little value on the use of Island genetics"
Economic Affairs Scrutiny Sub-Panel Report – 2007
"that the cumulative financial benefits of using imported genetics begin to outweigh
the costs after approximately seven years".
The RJA&HS has informed the Sub –Panel that the States would not, under EU Law, be able to limit the importation of genetic material to pure, traceable Jersey semen"
Previously the industry had expressed concerns that the importation of genetics could damage the case to retain the milk importation ban. However, the closed herd argument' is not the strongest reason against importation, and as importation is believed to be inevitable this is not considered to be a valid reason to refuse to import genetics".