Four northern Victorian dairy farming families are among the 10 inaugural Jersey Elite Master Breeders named recently. This week we feature the final Master Breeder, the Akers family’s Loxleigh Jerseys from Tallygaroopna.
After more than 70 years, the Loxleigh Jersey Stud is still hitting new highs.
Just this year, Loxleigh recorded its third 94-point cow and it came from a family that stretches back to the very beginning of the stud.
Loxleigh is now run by Geoff and Natalie Akers at Tallygaroopna, where they have farmed since 1993 and currently milk about 700 Jerseys and 100 crossbreds.
The new 94-point cow, Loxleigh Hatman Marie 6209, hails from a family bought by Geoff’s father and grandfather, Harold and Bob Akers in 1952, just a year or two after starting the stud.
The name Loxleigh stems from the area the Akers family farmed near Nagambie until 1912.
Loxleigh Hatman Marie 6289 follows Astound Iris 4 and Badger Iris 4 as the stud’s 94-point cows, leading a team that has included multiple 93-point cows and countless 90+ Excellent.
“To get a 94-point cow from a family we’ve had for 70 years was a great thrill,” Geoff said.
Loxleigh Astound Iris 4 and Loxleigh Badger Iris 4 were also On-Farm Challenge Great Southern Champions, two of the four achieved by the stud.
For Geoff, the on-farm challenge wins, including four Great Southern Champions, have been his career highlights.
The first was Loxleigh Blain Lily 2 in 2000, who was from a cow family purchased from the Gilmour family in the 1970s. The following winners in 2006, 2014 and 2015 were all from the Iris family purchased at Arthur Rodaughan’s Denison Park dispersal in 1996.
This dispersal developed some of the strongest cow families at Loxleigh and across the Jersey breed in Australia. Loxleigh Astound Iris 4 and Loxleigh Futurity Iris reached the pinnacle of Great Southern Challenge Champion cow and Loxleigh Badger Iris 4 winning the All-Australian title also.
“They were great thrills and it’s always a challenge to do it again,” Geoff said.
“We send one or two to IDW with moderate success, including a first placing with a two-year-old Loxleigh Hatman Dolly in 2019, but we have a preference for the on-farm challenge.”
Iris is one of the stud’s bigger and most successful families, matched for quality and numbers by the Marie family.
Loxleigh has also entered many bulls into AI programs, and currently has one of the best performers in Australia in Invincible.
“We’re quite pleased with how he is going,” Geoff said.
“We’re milking a number of his daughters and we get good reports from others who are milking them in terms of their production and strength and type.
“We focus on breeding good cows and genomically test a few bulls each year.”
Loxleigh uses mainly Australian genetics and Geoff looks for production with high type, with a strong focus on udders and deep-ribbed cows with plenty of strength in the front end.
The herd has achieved platinum milk production for the past five years.
“That’s pleasing because we try to breed functional production cows with good type so they will last.”
Geoff welcomed the Master Breeder award.
“It’s great recognition of the breed. It’s nice to be one of the inaugural members.”
Geoff continues to focus on what makes Jersey cows the best for his system.
“The Jersey is a very functional cow that fits our system. I think they are the most profitable cow to deal with.”