Printed in the Late Summer 2023 edition of Cowsmopolitian Magazine, classification scores have been updated to reflect classification updates since printed publication.
Faith, Family, Friendship & Foundation Cows – these are the core values for the Ackley family. Located in the heart of small-town East Liberty, Ohio lies a family farm with big dreams and a big passion for the agriculture and dairy industries. Ack-Lee Registered Holsteins began in the early 1960’s when Robert Ackley ventured out on his own, away from the home farm, to see if he could create what he always envisioned. He started milking a group of 50 cows in a double-4 parlor set up with his wife Kathleen by his side. They decided to raise a family, that included son Jay Ackley, who would later return to the farm his father had created upon completing high school graduation. This was just the beginning of what would become a diversified business operation.
Today, Jay and his wife, Kristy, own and operate Ack-Lee Registered Holsteins alongside their two sons, Kyle and Kris. Kyle and his wife Morganne have two children – Kinnley (3) and Maddux (1) – who both already share a deep affinity for the cows and tractors at the farm. A love for family runs deep in the Ackley family and nothing makes grandparents, Jay and Kristy’s, hearts beam with pride more than seeing their grandchildren share the same love they have for the farm and all it entails. At Ack-Lee Holsteins everyone has their roles, but can jump around and fill in as needed. A typical morning starts in the barn with Jay, Kristy, Kyle and Kris getting things started for the day. They are joined by two employees, Santos and Cristian, who handle the milking, and Erica, who takes care of feeding calves. Once everything is fed and scraped, Jay and Kyle head to the “other side” of the farm to get the day started with the grain operation. Kris and Kristy stay back to breed, treat and oversee the herd. Some days, Kristy leaves to watch her two grandkids, while her daughter-in-law, Morganne, teaches. On the grain side, Nick Melvin, Gary Corwin and Jay’s nephew, Brady Ackley help with the crops. Kristy’s nephew, Noah Boots, and father, Doug Boots, feed and scrape at the heifer farm daily. Kris and Kristy also manage all of the treatments and breeding at the heifer farm location well. The family laughs, calling Jay the CEO and Kristy the CFO as she handles all the bookwork and organization for the operation. The Ackleys farm over 4,700 acres of land including 2,200 acres of soybeans, 1,400 acres of corn, 350 acres of wheat and 750 acres of hay. While the dairy keeps the family busy, they also operate several other businesses that keep them diversified. Jay and Kyle are seed dealers for Becks Hybrids out of Indiana, where they move 24,000 units of soybeans and 4,500 units of seed corn. The men of Ackley’s along with Jay’s nephew, cousin, and Nick Melvin also run Ackley Maple Syrup. This operation currently consists of 1,400 taps with a vacuum line and reverse osmosis to make between 400-500 gallons of syrup. It is sold and marketed in a few local produce markets and out of the home office at the farm. Furthermore, they are also a dealer for LaPierre Maple Syrup Supplies, where they supply other local syrup makers with jugs and supplies needed to market their product. Jay and Kristy also ventured out in 2020 and partnered in a butcher shop, Butcher Bob’s, in LaGrange, IN, with friends Pat Conroy and Phil Topp.In 2021, the opportunity came about to purchase Kristy’s home farm 10 miles away from the Ack-Lee homestead. This included 246 acres, 3 large cattle barns and a 2500 head finishing hog barn. This location is now the Ack-Lee Heifer Farm and houses over 600 replacement heifers for a large-scale dairy. They also raise and sell all of their service aged bulls to a broad clientele of dairymen. Additionally, they also keep busy selling hay and straw to customers throughout the year. A recent exciting venture has been the new Boviteq IVF facility that has been built on-site at the dairy. They had been planning on building a new barn to house dry cows and breeding age heifers, but these two groups don’t always generate immediate income. Jay brainstormed on how to make partnering with Boviteq a reality, giving Ohio breeders an option to expand their IVF business and provide them with more options. There were already several other companies with satellite facilities in Ohio, so why not try something new? After several months of research and planning they decided to move forward with building on-site and officially opened doors in May of 2023. Kris and Kristy run the operation alongside Dr. Bryce Slavick and they look forward to providing IVF services to both their dairy and beef clientele.
At the dairy, they are currently milking 170 cows in a double-eight rapid exit herringbone parlor. They house 200 heifers and also have 25 service age bulls on site. They have a 22,000 lbs. herd average, with 4.0% 867F 3.2% 689P. The herd has continued to diversify, consisting of eight Brown Swiss, 25 Jerseys and 137 Holsteins that are housed in a barn made up of free-stalls and box-stalls consisting of sand and deep bedded straw packs. They currently have 25 EX cows and 70 VG with a 109.9 BAA.
“We breed for type, with emphasis on feet and legs, dairy strength and udders. If you can get those things on a cow, longevity will follow. In the breed it has been hard to find a good feet and leg bull, so you have to be very selective if you have a cow with foot and leg issues.” said Kristy. “As far as udders, we really like the way our Chiefs have been calving in. Doc has been very consistent for us as well.”
When asked about favorite cow families there are a few standouts in the minds of the Ackley Family. “Budjon-JK Emily’s Edair’s daughter, Budjon-JK Atwood Ekira (EX-94), has to top the list for us. She was a barn and show string favorite a few years back,” explained Kristy. “We have a few Doorman daughters from her in the herd that are giving us some pretty calves.K-Hurst Armani Dazed-ET (EX-94) was another special brood cow that was the dam of K-Hurst Jordy Denali (VG-89-CAN). We are fortunate to have Luxor daughters out of Denali owned with the Kuehnert family in Indiana.”
Among the group of standout individuals, there is also a superior group of up-and-coming young cows that the family is currently developing. Exciting young cows in the barn include Loa-De Mede WH Chief Bonita-ET (VG-88), who is a granddaughter of Walnutlawn Abbott Bree-ET (EX-90-CAN 9*). She was Intermediate and Reserve Grand Champion at Ohio Spring Show this past spring. She is due back next spring to Legend. Other riveting young cows they are developing are Walnutlawn Silvio Sonata-ET (VG-91), a granddaughter of Walnutlawn McCutchen Summer (EX-95), who is due back next spring to Dempsey and Hodglynn Mirand Halo (owned with Ken and Laura Wood) who is out of an EX Solomon x EX-94 Goldwyn Hazel x EX-92 Dundee Hezbollah. Halo is showing to be a very promising young cow and is also due back next spring to Eye Candy.
Although, all of the previously mentioned cows are special in their own right, there is one cow in particular that is holding the heart of the Ackley family this year. A cow who combines the total package of extreme style, balance, correctness, femininity and pure quality of the mammary system to match. She is Glaustar California All Out-Red (EX-95).
“All Out, owned with Planfield Farms, is quickly proving herself to be one of our favorites that we’ve ever had the chance to work with! We picked her up last summer in the Hodglynn’s Finest Sale,” Kristy commented. She has been Grand Champions of both the Holstein and Red shows at Ohio State for thepast two years. In 2022, she earned the HM All-American Red & White 5-Year-Old title after placing 4th at Expo and being Reserve Grand Champion at NAILE. “We have sold embryos and choices out of her and plan to continue her on a flush program after fall show season. She has been a dream to work with and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her!”
The milk cows may hold priority of the show string in the Ack-Lee line up, but they also have an impressive group of heifers hoping to join the roster in the future. A few big pedigreed heifers running around the pens include a Randall spring yearling daughter out of Errolea Avalanche Brazil (EX-95-3E-CAN), owned with Hodgylnn and Little Star, due in March to Delta-Lambda. They also have Delta-Lambdas out of both Cheers and Subliminal among the group. “Kris invested in an Altitude maternal sister to Unstoppabull which has been a pretty neat addition to the herd as well,” mentioned Kristy. “Miley Warrior Graceful-Red, owned with Spring, Hart and Plainfield, is a heifer that did make the show string this season and was just Junior Champion of both the Black and Red shows at Ohio State Fair. We are extremely excited about Graceful.”
When looking toward the future there are important goals that the family are striving towards. Looking for new bloodlines and trying to find that “one foundation cow” that will turn out special daughters left and right are ones that top that list. It is the family’s hope that with the addition of the new Boviteq OPU facility that they will be able to make this goal a reality. Having always done a small amount of flushing in previous years, they hope to ramp up their program and increase the number of offspring they can offer in sales to generate a profit off of the pedigrees they have invested in. With having a lot of changes in the last few years, they intend to focus on the new ventures they have invested in. They plan to continue to work on genetic improvements within the herd, with the goal being to set the next generation up for success. The inspirations are high, the ideas are flowing and the future is bright at Ack-Lee Holsteins!
By: Hayleigh Beri