Self-confessed cow nerd has a new role

“It combines my favourite things — I’m a history nerd, a data nerd and a cow nerd, and now I get to play with everyone else’s cows,” he said.

Jon has the runs on the board when it comes to breeding. He operated his own dairy business for more than a decade, was named a Holstein Australia Master Breeder and has worked as a breeding consultant with two different companies.

His passion for the industry is always on display and when Jon joined the GA team on February 5 it was a great opportunity to be part of the whole spectrum of breeding.

“Genetics Australia is the industry leader when it comes to supplying genetics for Australian conditions, and I am really excited to get involved in the full chain — working with farmers, retailers and the direct connection with the bulls,” he said.

“I grew up in the era of bulls like Lale and Kane, and witnessed the impact GA legends like Shotime and Medallion had on our dairy population.

“Now I get to work with the next generation, with bulls like Ventura and Varley hopefully continuing that legacy.”

Jon, who lives at Newbridge on the Loddon River west of Bendigo, grew up on a family dairy farm and completed an agricultural science degree at Glenormiston College in south-west Victoria.

He worked with Consolidated Herd Improvement Services as a breeding consultant from 2002-08 and then ran and expanded the Holland family’s Holloddon Holsteins farming business from 2008-21.

During that time Jon was named a Holstein Australia Master Breeder, one of his career highlights.

After finishing his farm lease and dispersing the herd, Jon worked for National Herd Development as a breeding consultant, field officer and herd evaluator based at Cohuna.

“Dairy genetics have always been my thing,” he said.

“I get a lot of enjoyment from breeding and developing herds. I loved all aspects of dairy farming, but breeding was what I really loved to do.”

Jon said genetics were at the core of the industry’s success.

“I love to see how a herd can develop through the generations by building on the quality of genetics,” he said.

“There’s great satisfaction and fulfilment when you can achieve that with genetics, combining different bloodlines and helping farmers to build their assets.”

Jon has no doubt about the quality of cows and herds he will be working with.

“I like to see a lot of different breeding programs and bloodlines and I think the Australian dairy cow is unique and rightly starting to get more recognition,” Jon said.

“She’s such a versatile cow that can go from pasture-based to TMR systems to barns.

“It’s a rare creature that can transition from one to the other. We have a unique combination of bloodlines. We haven’t stayed in-house; we picked the best from North America, from Europe, and from our own home-grown bloodlines and blended them together to create something unique and special.”

While most of his farming career has been connected to Holsteins, including writing feature articles for the Holstein Journal on Australian cows and cow families (“I like to take any opportunity to showcase Australian dairy farmer and genetics achievements”), Jon will be working across all breeds with Genetics Australia.

“It doesn’t matter which breed it is,” he said.

“I’ve worked mainly with Holsteins in the past, but the Australian Jersey is really starting to find its feet and being recognised on the global scene.

“It’s quite exciting to see what they are achieving and it’s the same with the Australian Red Breeds being recognised globally for what they are achieving.

“Australian Holsteins have been recognised for being a great a pasture-based animal, but I think they are more than that – more versatile, and that makes them a standout.

“Being able to work with all the breeds will be a great opportunity. Australian dairy farmers have some of the best bloodlines in the world, and we should take great pride in that.”

Jon said the future looked good for Australian cows and agriculture.

“We’re so lucky Australian cows have so much versatility and diversity. By using genomics to identify superior animals, we can get the best traits into the broader population,” he said.