Northland Jersey bull wins national award

Glen Kaycee Sherlock JG with his trophy for siring top producing daughters in the New Zealand milking herd.

A Northland-bred Jersey bull has won a national award for siring top-producing daughters.

Glen Kaycee Sherlock JG, bred by the Tucker family from Northland, has won the JT Thwaites Sire of the Season, which recognises sires that have the potential to significantly influence the quality of cows within New Zealand’s dairy herds.

Sherlock was also New Zealand’s top bull across all breeds in the April 2024 Ranking of Active Sires.

Christine Tucker said their goal was always to produce a bull that would be marketed by a national breeding company, but Sherlock surpassed all their expectations.

“To us, having a bull marketed was the ultimate achievement, but it’s a complete surprise to see Sherlock come through like he has.”

Born in 2019, Sherlock has an impressive pedigree thanks to the JerseyGenome programme, a Joint Venture between Jersey NZ and CRV AmBreed.

The programme is designed to identify elite yearling heifers using genomic selection and customised matings.

The Tucker family are long-standing participants in the programme, and every season make all replacement heifers available for genomic testing.

Sherlock’s sire, Pukeroa Gun Walker JG, was bred through the programme, as was his dam Skallywag, who is descended from a cow purchased by the Tuckers in 1989, as they were growing their herd.

“Sherlock’s dam is a big-framed Jersey with better than average production, and CRV selected Pukeroa Gun Walker JG as a complementary mating sire,” Tucker said.

“It was that sire selection, with Walker also being a genomic sire, that has seen the genetic gain come through on Sherlock’s sire’s side.”

The Tuckers had always focused on breeding a well-put-together Jersey cow that was slightly larger with good udders, she said.

“Sherlock is a good example of a sire that will deliver all of that for New Zealand dairy farmers whether they are Jersey breeders or not.”

JerseyNZ’s convenor for Jersey NZ’s Genetics Committee, Steve Ireland, congratulated the Tuckers on breeding Sherlock.

Ireland said the bull’s 622 breeding worth, backed by outstanding production breeding values and positive fertility was an achievement in itself.

“When you couple this with a degree of genetic diversity, Sherlock’s value to the Jersey population will be significant.”

CRV regional breeding manager Jenna O’Sullivan said Sherlock’s success demonstrated the value of genomics to the dairy industry.

“Sherlock offers excellent CRV Health and Efficiency scores. He also offers breeders production with both protein and fat and great conformation.”