the Irish Jersey & Belfair Cattle Registry (BCR)Forms, Fees are here
Application Instructions
Membership: Online access membership will be offered (target: 2024). Any membership fees paid before then (including lifetimes) will apply toward online membership fees later, if desired. When services go online, members can register unlimited numbers of cattle (all breeds recognized by HCA) online for no additional charge.
Registration: Print off necessary forms, fill them out, mail them in with a check or scan and email them with attached documentation, and pay online. Include photos, a scan of the registration certificates for both sire and dam, and any DNA documentation of animal or parents. If sire or dam is registered in more than one registry, please include all that info. Here are the steps:
- Go to Homestead Cattle Association main website membership & registration page to access Belfair Registry forms.
- Open, download, print and fill out the forms, scan and attach to email (or mail them to office).
- Include at least 2 photos of animal to be registered, right side & left side. Both will appear on the registration certificate. Include additional photos if necessary. Make sure one photo shows animal's face, all markings, brands and any other identifying features.
- Don't forget to include owner and animal ID with any photos sent in.
- Include all documentation, including scan of each parent's registration certificate, any DNA test results, etc.
- If mailed, include check made to Homestead Cattle Association, 12509 W. Whyman St, Avondale AZ 85323, or
- If emailed, send copies of photos, filled out forms and documents to office: homestead.cattle.assn@gmail.com and pay online.
- REMINDER: Soon you will be able to perform all transactions online.
- CAUTION: Allow plenty of time for the USPS to get forms or certificates through the mail.
- Let me know if you have a deadline.
- PAYMENT: To pay online, one of the following methods is available until we get the online platform going: check, Zelle, or Paypal.
Your animal's registration certificate: Although make the check out to Homestead Cattle Association, your animal's registration certificate will be printed with the breed for its herd book; the Belfair Cattle Registry or the Irish Jersey. If all information is received, papers are usually done & sent quickly. The first proof is emailed as a pdf usually available within 2 days for owner proofreading and approval. Calf or permanent registration certificates can be emailed as official pdf, or as an embossed seal, signed certificate mailed from office. Let office know which version you need. If you ever contact and do not hear back, that means no one has seen or received your message; so please, reach out again!
DNA Testing:
DNA testing of Belfair or Irish Jersey cattle is optional, whether for Parentage Verification or for genetic traits or conditions at this time, because composite breeds are evolving breeds. In some cases, a DNA test might determine whether an animal qualifies for the Irish Jersey herd book or the Belfair Registry, or whether s/he is eligible for Division I or Division II. The Homestead and Miniature Cattle Association requires all applicants to divulge all known DNA test results with official lab documentation. All known DNA test results appear on the registration certificate.
Reference webpages to use when ordering or when deciding whether to order DNA tests for your cattle:
Instructions & insider information when DNA testing your cattle:
- Visit the first link above. Make a list of which tests you are interested in for your cattle... from all the genetic conditions (DNA mutations, good and bad) that exist in all breeds of cattle, and which mutations and which tests are available for your breed(s). You can do a search (Ctrl+f) for your breed.
- Refer to your cattle's pedigrees to see if any of the mutations known about in your breed are a legitimate concern. You don't need to pay for DNA tests for a breed of cattle, if your cattle don't have the affected bloodlines in their pedigree (naturally this only applies when the mutation bloodline is known; I have done the research and found as many as possible to help save you money in unnecessary tests).
- Visit the second link above once you have a list and know which DNA tests you want to run on your cattle. Find out which DNA testing labs offer those tests.
- You may have to use more than one lab. The reason I researched and compiled this webpage, is because a lot of this information is kept hidden in proprietary camouflage on DNA lab websites, especially the big companies. You may have to order panels of a bunch of tests you don't need, just to have one certain test you do need. Larger labs keep it confusing and competitive, and often do not divulge straightforward lists of exactly which DNA tests they offer under which (proprietary-named) test panel. Using this webpage cuts through some of the confusion, and helps you figure out which lab(s) should provide the tests you need. The information provided here is only about DNA tests for your cattle. Some DNA labs also perform other health tests, that may be ordered along with the genetic DNA tests.
- Cost. You will have to contact each lab directly for current pricing and their directions on how to order the tests. You may be pressured to order a test online (but that is riskier with increased chances of mixups, errors and time lost), or download their forms and possibly cards, to submit with the hair, blood, tissue or semen samples directly to each lab you use. Some offer cheaper tests if you use blood cards, but for some owners, that involves the additional expense of having a veterinarian draw the blood. Some labs require tissue samples for certain tests, which requires tools to cut a sample from the ear, etc.
- Most tests offered at most DNA labs can be with hair pulled from the cattle's tail. You pull a few hairs at a time using pliers, while it's restrained in a chute or crowding tub, or over a fence when distracted with petting or feeding them treats. Then you'll mail a sample of about 30 hairs (with the root bulbs intact, where the DNA is contained) to the lab.
- For Jersey purity percentage testing (the BBR test) you must contact Neogen and talk with someone there who is knowledgeable about that test, because it is done in association with the CDCB, and is only available in certain dairy test panels. If you want to test the Jersey breed purity of a bull calf, it is considerably less expensive to test him before he reaches breeding age.
- DNA test results ownership: It is your responsibility to understand who owns the DNA test results you order and pay for, from a DNA lab, for your cattle. Just because you own the cattle and pay for the DNA testing, does not mean you own the test results, or have any access to the test results. Many registries keep ownership and control of your DNA tests and results, and thereby profit by markup (using a bulk registry discount). That is an acceptable practice in the industry, but owners need to realize that some registries abuse that power. They can legally withhold, and not divulge accurate results, or any test results to the owner. The DNA lab is powerless to help the owner or police that situation when it occurs. If the registry owns your DNA test results instead of you, you hand over the control of if the results reported by the registry are official from the lab, accurate, or when or how long it takes to be reported to you, or if you ever even get the results at all. This is an actual issue in the registry business, and a number of cattle owners have lost a lot of money and time due to unscrupulous registries. To avoid that risk, follow the instructions given here, and deal directly with each DNA lab, and you will own your cattle's DNA test results, and get official DNA lab test results as soon as possible.
