ST. HELIER, Jersey — When the sun rose on the Channel Island of Jersey the morning of July 15, it marked a day that seven of the Island’s dairy farmers will remember for a long time to come.
The king and queen of England — Charles III and Camilla — would receive a gift of the finest Jersey heifers seven Island dairy farmers had to offer, a gift that has been in the works for the past two years.
One of the heifers presented to the King and Queen July 15 came from the Elite Jerseys herd, owned by John and Sarah Le Feuvre and their son, John James, of Les Augerez. The heifer given to the royal family by the Le Feuvres was Supreme Vedas Jordanne, a year-old daughter of Audibel Jordan, with a maternal pedigree that can be traced back to 1879.
The Le Feuvres milk 150 Jersey cows in a swing-7 herringbone parlor and raise 120 head of youngstock on the farm. The farm consists of 250 acres, which is primarily used for grazing. The Island’s mild climate allows the Le Feuvres to graze their dry cows and youngstock year-round, while the milking herd grazes from March through November. In addition to pasture, the Le Feuvres harvest grass and corn silage, combine wheat and barley for feed and straw, grow fodder beets and make surplus hay which they sell to horse owners.
“Our herd was established in 1938,” Sarah Le Feuvre said. “Since that time, breeding and retaining great cow families has very much been a priority for our family.”
With that goal, the Le Feuvres strive to breed for top Jersey genetics for both type and production. The milking herd is predicted to average 15,432 pounds of milk this year, with tests of 5.32% butterfat and 3.76% protein.
The six heifers joining Jordanne in the gift to the royal family were Trinity Lemonhead Oakley 3, bred by Trinity Manor Farm; Ansom Axel Duchess, bred by the Perchard family’s La Ferme herd; Pride’s Casino Blandish from the Houze family’s Lodge Farm; Roseland Vagn Christella from the Roselands herd; Westlands Victory Isis from Master Farms; and Woodlands Tekashi Jemini from the Le Boutillier family’s Woodlands Farm.
The Island of Jersey is considered to be the birthplace of the Jersey breed, and the doe-eyed cows are held in high regard among the Island’s citizens.
“The Jersey cow is widely regarded as an icon of our Island,” Le Feuvre said. “The general public is very supportive of the cows.”
The Jersey Herd Book is regarded as the foundation on which the breed is built, worldwide. The herd book was established April 4, 1866, by the Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society, making it the oldest Jersey breed record in the world. Over time the herd book has evolved from simply a list of names, owners and birthdates to the complete database found today, which includes all pedigree information along with production and health characteristics, as well as genetic data gathered from DNA testing.
According to Le Feuvre, last month’s presentation of the seven Jersey heifers has been a project in the planning phase for a long time.
The idea began in 2022. Plans were made by the RJA&HS and the Jersey Milk Marketing Board, the Island’s milk cooperative, to present seven Jersey heifers to Queen Elizabeth II, celebrating Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne, alongside her contributions to the Jersey breed through her Windsor Jersey herd.
At that time, a group of seven open heifers were selected from Jersey’s top herds. The heifers remained on the Island to be bred, creating within the queen’s Windsor herd a breeding line that traces back to the origins of the breed.
Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022, before the heifers joined the Windsor herd. But plans continued for the gift to be accomplished.
Before the heifers left the Island, one of the Island’s leading herds — the Le Boutillier family’s Woodlands Farm — was struck by disaster. In December, more than half the herd was lost to what was later believed to be botulism.
The loss was felt not only by the Le Boutillier family but by the Island’s dairy industry as a whole. Because the Island does not allow for the importation of live animals, the country’s herd can only be restocked from within. JMMB members stepped up to help the Le Boutillier family by providing animals to restock the herd. King Charles re-gifted to the Le Boutillier family, the seven in-calf heifers which had been previously given to him but had not left the island yet.
The seven original heifers have calved in and become members of the rebuilt Woodlands Farm herd. To mark their place in history as part of the original Platinum Jubilee gift, the offspring of those seven heifers have been registered in the Jersey Herd Book with the prefix “Platinum.”
“The process of gifting the heifers has been ongoing for some time,” Le Feuvre said. “Only recently was His Majesty’s visit to the Island confirmed.”
With his visit, the Island’s top breeders again proffered the best of their best to be presented to King Charles. Instead of joining the Windsor herd, these heifers will join the king’s organic Ayrshire herd located at the Highgrove Estate near Gloucestershire, England.
The experience of meeting King Charles and Queen Camilla is one Le Feuvre said will stay with her for the rest of her life.
“Their Majesties were absolutely charming, they are brilliant at putting people at ease,” Le Feuvre said. “I discussed the pedigree of our heifer and the use of A.I. or stock bulls with the king. The queen told us that her grandmother had owned a herd of Jerseys.”
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