World Guernsey Cattle Federation president Ray Watts with one of the herd at Meadow Court Farm.
In an opening address at the 14th World Guernsey Cattle Conference he sounded warnings to an audience of nearly 70 from across the globe about the future.
‘The Guernsey breed is in serious decline worldwide. We need to get more breeding cows. This is the biggest challenge the breed is facing. We hope to halt the decline in the next few years and stop it in 10.’
Having cows which were as high quality as Guernsey’s were, he said, was “meaningless” if farmers could not “regularly get the animal in calf”.
‘Genomics is the key to driving the breed forward. Breeding cows from high class bulls is not sustainable if they are closely related. A failing breed is a complete disaster for all of us.’
Read more: Guernsey cows under threat
