Some US dairy herds have reported seasonal low to no colostrum production. However, little information regarding this problem exists. The purpose of this study was to describe the phenomenon and identify potential risk factors. A 2,500-cow commercial Jersey dairy farm was enrolled. Cow information on parity, previous lactation length, previous 305ME milk production, and dry period length were collected from the farm’s dairy management software. First-milking colostrum weight and calf information were recorded just after calving. Over a year of enrollment, 1,845 cows and 1,143 heifers (38%) calved with colostrum weights recorded. Average colostrum yield differed across the year; 6.6 ± 3.2 kg per cow in June 2016, 2.5 ± 2.4 kg in December 2016, and 4.8 ± 3.2 kg in May 2017 (P < 0.01). Multiparous cows had a larger decline in colostrum production June to December (6.6 ± 3.2 kg to 1.3 ± 1.6 kg) compared with primiparous animals (6.5 ± 3.2 to 4.2 ± 2.3 kg per cow) (P < 0.001). Average colostrum production decreased by 0.17 kg per cow per week during this time, 0.22 kg for multiparous and 0.08 kg for primiparous cows (P < 0.01). A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed for multiparous cows only for the probability of low colostrum yield (<2.7 kg at first milking). Dry period length, calf sex, singleton or twin, age at freshening, month of calving and previous lactation length were associated with low colostrum yield (P < 0.05). Pedigree analysis for cows calving October 23, 2016 through January 21, 2017, showed that extremes of colostrum production followed some sire lines: low (<0.45 kg; n = 102) and high (>5.44 kg; n = 112) yield. Using a single-factor ANOVA, colostrum weight for offspring were different between sire lines (P = 0.0002). A cross-correlation function analysis between the time series for colostrum yield and photoperiod revealed a high correlation (0.91 ± 0.13) at the time of calving and one month prior (0.84 ± 0.14) for multiparous cows, higher correlations than for primiparous cows (0.53 ± 0.13 and 0.48 ± 0.14, respectively). These data indicate that photoperiod, in some cow families, may be involved with seasonal low colostrum production in Jersey cows.