Huffard Named Jersey Master Breeder
Posted: July 7, 2008
Congratulations to the dairy industry’s latest award winner, James S. Huffard III from Crockett, Va., who was named the sixty-fifth Master Breeder of the American Jersey Cattle Association on June 27, 2008.
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.
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.
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.
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.