Paying the bills while looking good pretty much sums up the herd of Keightley-Core Jersey in Salvia, Ky. It is no surprise, that with winning nearly every conceivable piece of hardware on the tanbark trail and earning countless production awards, Jeff and Alta Mae Core will be honored as the 79th recipient of the Master Breeder award from the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA).
The Core’s own and operate Keightley-Core Jersey Farm (KCJF), a 70-cow Registered Jersey herd, with their children, Brooke, Brady and Brittany, and their families, and breed cattle using the KCJF prefix.
Early Beginnings
The couple both have a love for Jerseys and a passion for showing cattle; Jeff came from an Iowa Jersey herd and Alta Mae from a Kentucky Jersey herd. The pair met in the late 70s as they traveled with their families to Louisville, Ky., for The All American Jersey Show. They later married in 1980 and began milking cows with Alta Mae’s parents, the late A.J. and Adelene Keightley in McAfee, Ky. In 1987, they purchased their current home farm and farmed along with her mother, upon the passing of her father.
KCJF has a long resume that includes seven Premier Breeder banners, two Premier Exhibitor banners, three National Grand Champions, a homebred National Grand Champion, six NASCO Type and Production Winners, and two Genomic Jersey Performance Index (GJPI) Grand Champions. The list of accolades in the show ring goes on, with so many purple ribbons and high accomplishments.
Also, Alta Mae and Jeff have teamed up as official judges of the 2004 Open Show on the All American. They are recipients of the Max Gordon Memorial Award in 2014 and long-serving members of the All American Show Committee. Their son, Brady judged the futurity in 2021.
Pretty Cows That Milk
“Generally, when KCJF comes up, people tend to think ‘show cows,’” wrote former Master Breeder recipient, Paul Chittenden, Dutch Hollow Farm Inc., Schodack Landing, N.Y. “My respect for this family does include their success in the show ring. But more than that is the fact that, like most of us, they pay their bills with the milk check.”
Multiple times that herd has ranked nationally for production by the AJCA. Today, the herd has a mature equivalent lactation average of 18,238 lbs. milk, 928 lbs. fat and 683 lbs. protein on 68 lactations. 4W Pusher Lizzie, Excellent-94%, has won the Ogston Trophy for lifetime milk production and Edyvean Farm Trophy for lifetime protein production. The matriarch has been the herd’s top producer for four of the past six years and has 336,012 lbs. milk, 14,558 lbs. fat and 11,975 lbs. protein in 4,418 days.
The KCJF herd has an appraisal average of 89.7% and includes 41 Excellent and 28 Very Good cows. The high-scorers are a pair of Excellent-96% cows that were purchased in 2015: Hirds Colton Dream and Dreamroad TBone Clumsy.
Breeding Philosophy
The Keightley Core herd has no formula or hard fast rules for breeding exceptional cows. Their technique is a keen eye that ultimately is the reason Jeff and Alta Mae are receiving the master breeder top honors from the AJCA.
The Cores describe their breeding technique as “a blend of gut feelings, close critique of maternal and paternal lines, and use of proven sires.”
Helping Hands Off the Farm
Their long list of breeding standouts is remarkable, to say the least. As much as hard work that goes on at the farm to receive a high appraisal, production and show winnings, the Core family also realizes the importance to lend a helping hand.
Their daughter, Brooke shares that they are humbled and in service to others.
“They have never been ones to say no to a judging team needing a place to hone their skills, an area representative needing a homecooked meal or place to rest, or a new Jersey breeder needing sage, practical advice,” she shares.
The couple is active with the Kentucky Jersey Cattle Club and the Kentucky National Show and Sale and long-time 4-H leaders. Furthermore, Alta Mae has served on the Kentucky Fair Council and retired from the Kentucky Department of Revenue with 30 years of service in 2008.
Traveling the world, judging cows has literally taken Alta Mae to various corners of the U.S., along with Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Jeff has also judged shows domestically and in Canada and Mexico. The two are the first husband-wife duo to receive the Klussendorf Trophy, he in 2021 and she in 1999.
A true farm family, the Cores have three children: Brooke, Brady and Brittany, who are all very active in the dairy industry and showing cattle.
Jeff and Alta Mae will be presented with the Master Breeder Award from the AJCA on Fri., June 24th in Portland, Ore.
