Jumping hurdles to be a master breeder

Simon Reid has had to jump a few hurdles on his path to becoming a Jersey Australia Master Breeder.

Although he owned a farm for a few years, most of his dairy career has been as a share farmer, moving across several farms around Victoria.

While the moves have set things back, Simon never took his eye of the goal of having a good quality herd.

"Because we move around a bit with share farming, you get the cows to a certain point and then you move to the next farm and you have to build it back up," he said.

Therefore, the Master Breeder title he received at Jersey Australia's recent annual general meeting for his Jackiah Jerseys came as a bit of a surprise.

When Jersey Australia started doing Master Breeders, Simon set a goal of achieving the title by the time he retired, but he's qualified at just 52 with many years left to continue improving the herd.

"I was a bit shocked when they rung and told me about it," he said. "I thought I might be five to 10 years away from achieving it but I'm pretty proud…that's one thing ticked off the bucket list."

Simon's main goal is to own a farm with a good herd of cows – and he's pleased to be half-way there. Now farming near Warragul, Simon was born in Melbourne but moved to Colac with his school teacher father John when he was five where they lived on a house on a dairy farm. "All I've wanted to be since we moved was a farmer," he said.

When Simon was about eight, his father bought some land and ran beef cattle while still teaching. In 1979, he sold the beef farm and bought a small dairy farm. "He used to milk 30 cows before he went to work in the morning and come home and milk again," Simon recalled.

After school, Simon was encouraged to get a trade or go to university so he moved back to Melbourne and became a qualified pastry chef and nurse, but his heart was in the country. "Even when I was in Melbourne, farming was always the dream," he said. "I used to say if I won Tattslotto, I'd buy a farm."

A move back to Colac to play footy with mates led to the start of his dairying career. "One of my mates was off a farm and they were looking for a farm hand so I went and worked on his family farm for about 15 months and loved it. I then applied for a share farming job and got it."
He started his first stud, Balintore Park, at age 10, following in his father's footsteps, and created Jackiah, named after his children Jack and Kiah, when he got his first share farming job in 1999.
"Dad's farm was sold, which was a real kick in the guts, but when he sold, I kept half a dozen of my cows and kept it going. When I started share farming I had 23 cows, but the numbers increased."
Simon now farms with his partner Belinda Egan, who has her own Jersey stud.
Since 2002, Simon has worked closely with Amy Wright from World Wide Sires on his mating program. "We use the right bulls to progress the stud; a lot of credit needs to go to Amy," he said.
"When getting back into dairy farming, I received some great help and advice from Ted Codling of Glenara Jerseys and Stewart Jackson from Colac Herd Improvement was also of great help and introduced me to Amy Wright."
When he returned to farming, Simon started studying at Melbourne University, mainly by correspondence, and completed his Degree in Applied Science - Agriculture in 2004. Simon is also a Jersey classifier.
Early on he looked for production traits but is now more focused on type, still with production in mind. The use of genomics in recent years has helped the herd to advance. "I'm not driven by high numbers; I just want a good all-round cow." The herd is travelling well, with the cows averaging around 6200-6500 litres.
Simon's favourite cow has been Jackiah Valentino Mimosa 2797 EX92, who won the On Farm Challenge in her class 3-4 years in a row and went on to win Champion Four-Year-Old in the Great Southern Challenge in 2018.
He was given a calf by the late Basil Boardman of Avonleigh jerseys in 1985 - Avonleigh Primrose 75. She gave him three daughters which have gone on to create his best cow family. The best bulls that have contributed to the success of the herd are Tbone, Vanahlem and Valentino.
Jackiah has had one bull in AI, Jackiah Peak, known as Primrose.
Simon remains a fan of Jerseys and will stick with the breed. "If it wasn't for my dad, I probably wouldn't have the love for Jersey cows," he said. "I like their inquisitive nature and they're not a big cow like the Holsteins so they're easier to handle."
He has been a member of Jersey Australia since 1995 and registered 1421 cows, including 115 rated as excellent.