Attention all Junior members and parents.

Here are the steps a junior (under 20 years of age) needs to take in order to show a Jersey at all shows. Can an animal be leased or does the animal need to be transferred into the junior's ownership?

The answer is simple: File a transfer of ownership so that the junior is listed as a Recorded Owner on the registration certificate.

Ownership rules vary from state to state. Some do allow leasing. Others allow animals to be registered in the farm name, but require that paperwork be completed and filed certifying that an animal is the junior’s 4-H or FFA project.

What about the All American Junior Jersey Show, the biggest junior Jersey show of the year?

The ownership policy is as follows:

Animals are eligible when recorded by the American Jersey Cattle Association in the Herd Register or with Generation Count 4 or greater, or by Jersey Canada with registry status of 93.75% and greater.

The exhibitor must be listed as Recorded Owner on the registration certificate, either (1) as the sole owner or (2) by his/her name in joint ownership. If the joint ownership includes more than one person meeting the eligibility requirements of Rule 1 (above), one of them must be declared as the exhibitor during check-in.

Animals must be registered and/or transferred to meet one of the above ownership requirements on or before August 1, 2023. The recording date is the postmark date and will be considered the date of registration and/or transfer.

To read more about the implementation of Generation Count for national shows, please visit the USJersey website for more information.

So, submit the transfer of ownership as soon as you figure out which animals are going to be the projects this year. That one step will save you the effort of researching the exhibitor ownership requirements for all the shows you are considering.

A final note: Exhibitors at the All American Junior Jersey Show are also required to be members (junior or lifetime) of the American Jersey Cattle Association. Applications for membership are available online at USJersey.com.

For more information contact the Director of Communications at info@usjersey.com.