The years top ten highest averaging sales are an impressive group averaging $4,372.22 on 486 lots.

Leading 2004 is the Top 10 Sale. On December 18, in Elkhorn, Wis., Jerseys were integrated into this previously all black and white sale. Offering 18 lots from some of the best Jersey cow families around the world, the sale averaged $6,200.00.

The top selling first choice female and Pyramid Furor Velvet-ET, the second high selling bred heifer of the year anchored the elite sale. The choice was sired by Gil-Bar Sparkler Primetime and out of 2004 National Grand Champion, Huriona Centurion Veronica 20J.

The second highest averaging sale has been in the number one or two spot for the last 16 consecutive years – the All American Jersey Sale. In true tradition, the sale offered 70 high-profile Jersey lots averaging $5,863.57. Held during a weekend where Jerseys are the dominant force, several of the year’s top selling individuals were a key part of the success of the sale.

The year’s top three selling bulls were auctioned during this annual event. The second high selling animal of the year and the highest male to sell was Maackdairy Region-ET. A syndicate of 56 breeders and Semex, Madison, Wis., purchased the sale topper for $35,075. "Region" is a son of BW Legion, JPI +217. His dam, Sunset Canyon Lemvig Ribbon-ET, is ranked fifth in the nation for JPI. She is appraised Excellent-91% and has produced 28,320 lbs. milk, 1,267 lbs. fat and 1,022 lbs. protein at 3-1 in 305 days. He was consigned by Maack Dairy, Cloverdale, Ore.

The third high selling animal of the year and second high selling male of the year was Molly Brook Jace Freeze-ET. A syndicate of 72 breeders and Alta/Jerseyland Sires, Watertown, Wis., purchased this one-month-old son of Windy Willow Montana Jace, JPI +278, for $33,325. He is out of the number one cow in the country for JPI, Molly Brook Fair Frost, tracing back to the "Flower" family from consignor, Molly Brook Farms, West Danville, Vt.

On May 29, the herd of Sycamore Hill shot to the top of the list of herd dispersals with the Sycamore Hill Grand Finale. Buyers from across the country came to Marcellus, N.Y., and watched as history was rewritten. The 126 lots averaged $5,379.17, the highest average for a herd dispersal in breed history. They also watched SHF Renaissance Frost-ET, sell for $60,000, becoming the highest Jersey female sold at U.S. public auction.

A total of six animals from the sale are included in the top 15 high-selling animals of 2004, three sold for over $30,000 while the remaining three sold for over $18,000.

The Spring Valley 5th Edition Sale, with a $4,373.44 average on 80 lots, was the fourth high-averaging sale. The sale, held on April 24, in Frederick, Md., offered buyers a chance to stock up on style, just in time for the upcoming show season.

The top selling female of the sale was Jaspar R Evening Moon-ET. Purchased by the Moonstruck Syndicate, Westminster, Md., for $25,000, "Evening Moon" was the tenth high selling individual of the year. Also selling in the sale was the top selling bred heifer of the year, Hillacres Wish Upon A Star. She sold for $12,600 to Gene and Kathy Iager, Fulton, Md.

For the first time in five years, the Top of the World Sale offered a live auction for buyers to indulge in. Held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo, the sale sold 24 lots for an average of $4,237.92, the fifth highest of the year.

Catapulting the sale to this status was the sale topper and fifth high-selling animal of the year, Elliotts Deluxe Vienna-ET. The daughter of the high-selling individual in 2003, Huronia Centurion Veronica 20J, sold for $32,500 to Cyagra Inc., Elizabethtown, Pa.

The top five highest grossing sales of the year had one theme –volume. These five sales sold an average of 300 Registered Jerseys™per sale. Together, the five sales equal 36% of the years total gross sales, or $3,440,775.

The month of April reached new heights for the cattle marketing arm of the AJCA—JMS. In four weeks, the company marketed over $2 million, $1 million coming from a single weekend. The weekend of April 17 to 19 will go down in history as the first $1 million weekend for the marketing company. The Cedarcrest III Sale and the Deep South-Southeast Heifer Growers South Sale sold nearly 500 lots and rank first and fourth for total gross dollars in a sale.

The Cedarcrest III Sale, was held on April 19, 2004 at the home of the Rankin Family, Faunsdale, Ala. The sale offered 241 lots of "Registered Jerseys of the Finest Kind" and grossed $691,625.

The high selling individual of the sale ranks among the year’s top 20 selling individuals. Jaces Jan-ET, a two-month-old heifer calf from the legendary "Belle" family sold for $15,000 to Charles Arlen, New Vienna, Iowa.

The Sycamore Hill Grand Finale, previously mentioned, was the second high-grossing sale in 2004 with a total value of $677,775.

The next two high-grossing sales of the past year, gave producers the chance to take advantage of the milk prices. The Southwest Protein Sale sold 253 cows and 103 bred heifers to buyers in an area where milk is in high-demand and animals are in short supply. The sale grossed $606,265 on 363 lots.

The kick-off to the million-dollar weekend in April was the Deep South-Southeast Heifer Growers South Sale on April 12. The sale offered buyers the chance to take advantage of high spring milk prices, presenting them with 172 close-up bred heifers. The sale auctioned a total of 256 lots and grossed $554,600.

Another complete dispersal rounds out the top five high sales for total gross. The Thomsen Dairy LLC Complete Dispersal attracted buyers looking for more Jerseys to fill their barns and volumes of milk to fill their bulk tank. The two-day event, held on March 11-12 in Stanton, Mich., sold 517 total lots sold for a total value of $480,960. This included a group of 360 milking cows that alone grossed $341,575.

At $60,000 SHF Renaissance Frost-ET became the highest selling female at U.S. public auction. She took this honor from Ron-Net Maple Dorie Dee, who sold in 1999 for $45,000. "Frost" sold to Ernest W. Kueffner, Boonsboro, Md., at the Sycamore Hill Grand Finale in May. The junior-two-year-old was also the high-selling individual overall on the year.

Two more cows from the same sale round out the top three selling cows of 2004. "Frost’s" full sister, SHF Renaissance Faline-ET, sold for $33,000, the fourth highest price paid for an animal in 2004 and the second highest price paid for a milking individual. Edgeview Renassiance Jane 57, sold for a final price of $30,000. This made her the seventh highest selling animal of the year and the third high selling cow. Both "Faline" and "Jane" were purchased by Peter Vail and Ken Beneke, Millerton, N.Y.

Genetics from National Grand Champions are always in demand. Huronia Centurion Veronica 20J, the 2004 National Grand Champion was no exception. Nearly two months before she was granted with the National Grand Champion title, she was crowned Grand Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion of World Dairy Expo. Hours after being named Grand Champion of the Jersey show, her daughter sired by Elliotts Renaissance Deluxe, JPI –2, sold in the Top of the World Sale. At $32,500, Elliotts Deluxe Vienna-ET became the fifth highest selling animal of 2004 and the top selling open yearling. As previously mentioned, in the Top 10 Sale report, her first choice daughter was the highest selling choice of the year.

Another name that has become popular in the annual sale summary, is that of the World Champion for fat production, Golden MBSB of Twin Haven-ET. This year, her great-granddaughter sired by Windy Willow Montana Jace, JPI +271, was the highest selling heifer calf at $28,200. MM Jace Golden Glow-ET sold to William (Jim) H. Jenks, Buhl, Idaho, at the Pride of the West Sale in July. The March heifer was the eighth high-selling animal of the year and is out of SHF Paramount Golden Gal, the high selling female of 2002. David L. Hogan, Tillamook, Ore., consigned "Glow."

The sales of 2004 not only broke many records of the breed, but also illustrated the continuous growth and demand for the long-lived, high-component, efficient Jersey cow.

Sales included in this summary were those held in the United States and submitted to the Jersey Journal prior to January 1, 2005. Only sales reported with complete catalogs marked with buyers and prices for all animals are included in the auction sale summary. Sales held in Canada with consignments from or purchased by United States residents are reported throughout the year by the Jersey Journal. These sales are not included in the year-end analysis, however, because of the monetary exchange rate differential.