Cari Wolfe has announced her retirement from the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) effective June 1, 2022.
Wolfe completed 40 years of service with the USJersey organizations across five decades of employment in January.
“We have been most fortunate to have her talents and expertise available to us for so many years,” said Neal Smith, Executive Secretary and CEO of AJCA and National All-Jersey Inc. (NAJ). “Cari is a person that has always made things happen. She has never sat idly by wondering what would come of something. She got involved in making sure the Jersey cow and her breeders had the tools to be the most profitable and efficient they could be. We wish her the best in her retirement.”
The Jersey cow has been a large part of Cari’s life since she was a child. She and her family had Jerseys on their farm, Jer-Nan Farm, Bridgewater, N.J.
Cari received a master’s degree in dairy cattle breeding from North Carolina State University after completing her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech.
She began her employment with the American Jersey Cattle Club as a southeast area representative in January 1982. While working in the southeast, Cari met her husband, Larry, and the two eventually relocated to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, to begin working at the main office in 1987.
Cari served two years as coordinator of Jersey Marketing Service before taking the role of Director of Research and Genetic Program Development in July 1989.
In this capacity she was asked to develop new programs to encourage increased production of protein relative to fat and explore ways to work with milk producers owning cattle less than 100% Jersey. As well, this began her work as a liaison with the university personnel in conducting research funded by the AJCC Research Foundation and encouraging additional Jersey-specific research in priority areas.
“Cari has been a major asset for a small organization and members of USJersey,” said Smith. “She is a tremendous resource for our breed with her depth of knowledge in the genetic field. The Jersey cow and its breeders have reaped the benefits of her work.”
Wolfe has worked closely with Dr. Ronald Pearson (Virginia Tech) and Dr. Kent Weigel (University of Wisconsin-Madison) over the past four decades to develop a Jersey-specific breeding tool—first PTI (Production Type Index) and now JPI (Jersey Performance Index). This work led her to help build P-Levels for heifers to give independent rankings within the breed.
“Cari has been a terrific partner over the years, and she embodies all the reasons I enjoy working with AJCA,” said Dr. Weigel. “Her dedication, forward-looking mindset, and positive attitude are infectious, and it has been a pleasure to collaborate on many projects and initiatives.”
