Northern New York state of mind

MALONE, N.Y. — Continually striving to breed the best Jersey cow has been the focus of Tierney Farm Jerseys for over five decades.

Charles and Jennifer Bosley operate Tierney Farm Jerseys near Malone. They purchased the cows from Jennifer’s parents, Jack and Caryl Tierney, in 1997 and the farm in 2009. With their adult children, Patrick and Kathryn, the Bosleys milk 50 registered Jerseys and farm 220 acres of owned and rented land, growing forages for their herd. Jennifer works full time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.

Patrick recently returned to the farm full time after completing his bachelor of technology degree in animal science from the State University of New York at Cobleskill. He now manages the milking herd. Kathryn is a graduate student  working towards her doctorate. She helps her family on the farm when she is home as well as at cattle shows.

The Bosleys milk in a 6-stall step-up flat parlor retrofitted into their old tiestall barn. The cows are housed in a bedded pack barn that was built 12 years ago. They built a calf barn at the same time to move their calves out of hutches.

The Bosleys utilize rotational grazing from early May through mid-October. The cows are supplemented with baleage, corn meal and a pelleted grain, fed in the headlocks of the pack barn.

The dairy industry in northern New York has changed during the years the Bosley family has dairy farmed.

“Although the dairy industry remains a big part of our local economy, half the dairies that were operating in our county five years ago have since left the dairy business,” Jennifer Bosley said. “Processing is a challenge in our area — there are only two major conventional dairy cooperatives in our region. This makes it very difficult for new producers to get started unless they can buy into a farm with an existing market. The one exception is the grass-fed organic market.”

Charles grew up on a dairy farm in a neighboring county, raising registered Holsteins, Ayrshires and Jerseys. Jennifer’s family’s Tierney Farm Jerseys dates back to the early 1970s when her father, a school teacher in Massachusetts, became drawn to the prospect of dairy farming.

In 1974, her parents started a 12-cow dairy in West Newbury, Massachusetts. With that experience, Jack decided he wanted to dairy farm full time. Eventually the current Tierney Farm Jerseys location in northern New York was purchased in 1978.

The newly acquired farm came with a herd of grade Holsteins. Over time, the herd was transitioned to all Jerseys. When Jennifer and her sisters, Amy and Moira, became involved in 4-H, they found they enjoyed showing animals from their farm.

“Showing in 4-H got our family interested in breeding cattle that could be competitive and developing those genetics,” Bosley said.

The fledgling interest in genetics laid the foundation for how the herd would develop.

“We focus on breeding for a combination of show type, longevity, components and persistent production,” Bosley said. “We operate as a grazing, non (total mixed ration) herd so we strive to breed cows who will thrive in this type of management system.”

The Bosleys select pure Jersey bulls placing emphasis on both cow families and sire stacks.

“We want to breed balanced cows with beautiful frames, correct feet and legs and udders,” Bosley said. “Our goal is to breed great heifers that will develop into Excellent cows.”

Each year the Bosleys market many animals as breeding stock and for show, creating an additional revenue stream for the farm.

The Bosleys have several cow families that have impacted their herd. They credit their “L” family with being their most prolific. This cow family is the foundation for much of the success they have realized through their breeding program.

“The “L” family started here when my father bought a group of Jersey heifers from a local cattle dealer in the early 1980s,” Bosley said. “This was before we had started showing cows, but one of the heifers really stood out among the others. He named her Loni, after the actress, Loni Anderson.”

The heifers had originated in a Jersey herd where the registration papers had not been kept up, so Jack enrolled Loni as an original animal in what was the American Jersey Cattle Club’s Genetic Recovery program at the time, eventually returning her family to full herdbook status.

“Loni developed into a beautiful cow, and a terrific brood cow,” Bosley said. “She was classified EX-92 for the first time at 10 years of age. She has passed her beautiful frame and udder on to her daughters and granddaughters, each generation improving over the one before.”

Today, much of the Tierney Farm Jerseys herd descends from Loni, tracing back as many as 12 and 13 generations deep.

“The family has been very successful and prolific for us,” Bosley said. “They have produced many national show-winning animals, All-American and All-Canadian nominations and high-scoring cows, for us and for others who have worked with this family in their breeding programs.”

Moving into the future, the Bosleys plan to continue to pursue their goals of breeding great cows, with each generation better than the one before.

Part of that future for the Bosleys is preparation to formally bring the next generation of their family into the farm. With that comes a variety of concerns.

“We will need to explore options for increasing diversity and bringing additional revenue to the farm to continue to be economically viable into the future,” Bosley said. “Sustainability of a milk market, viability of the ag service industry in our area, the availability of land and how increasing regulations will affect us are all things we will need to consider going forward.”