NORTH COLLINS, N.Y. — Isaac Folts isn’t just studying dairy science, he’s living it. As a rising sophomore at Cornell University majoring in animal science with a focus on dairy management, his sights are set on the future with a plan of returning to his family’s farm in North Collins, New York, and helping take it to the next level.
That future, however, is already underway.
With a keen eye for quality, focus on genetics, attention to detail, and passion for dairy, Isaac’s dream is to breed a great cow. He is actively shaping a dairy legacy alongside parents Josh and Ginny Folts, who founded the dairy at Folts Farm in 2016.
What began with a handful of cows has grown into a 120-cow operation. Cows are milked with two Lely robots. The herd currently averages an impressive 97 pounds of milk per cow per day, with a somatic cell count of just 96,000 — a testament to the herd’s health and milk quality.
As things have progressed since 2016, the BAA has reached 110.9, reflecting a commitment to high-quality genetics and cow care since those first foundation purchases.
In fact, says Isaac, part of that cow care includes relying on Udder Comfort since 2016.
“We use it a couple days before calving, and then after they calve for a day, or more, depending on the cow and the appearance of her udder,” Isaac explains, noting the commercial herd in the robot barn mostly gets it after calving. “After they walk through the robot, it is very easy to do. Our robots track SCC and conductivity, so we use Udder Comfort on any flagged cow twice a day until she’s not being flagged. I like the lotion, and my parents prefer the spray.”
Isaac also uses it “religiously at the shows every day to take the pressure off. After rinsing cows and drying them, I put on Udder Comfort before they lay down to keep them comfortable, and keep applying it on show morning and then as soon as they are milking out after the show, I massage it in,” he explains. “I see more udder quality, texture, and they seem to produce better. One of the first cows I put it on was nominated open All-American as a Sr. two-year-old. This made me a believer.”
The Folts family operation is varied. In addition to the dairy, they grow crops, run a trucking business, and do custom field work and manure hauling across western New York. Their trucking business even once hauled bleachers for NASCAR races. Now the fleet mostly stays local — just like Isaac and one of his three older brothers, Zane, who both work alongside their parents.
As Isaac builds his show herd, and sells his best along the way, the genetics of several donor cows are also shaping the main herd through IVF and flushing.
While many students spent the pandemic navigating virtual learning in their bedrooms or at kitchen tables, Isaac turned quarantine into an opportunity. With high school classes virtualized online in 2020, he undertook a major renovation project: transforming an unused feed-mixing building into a dedicated show barn for his growing herd of mostly Holsteins with a few Jerseys.
“We used to make pig feed there,” Isaac recalls. “But when one of our contracts ended, I saw the chance to do something different.”
With the support of his parents and plenty of help from his dad, Isaac remodeled the building into a professional-quality show barn — all while keeping his laptop in the barn to report for virtual classes in a shirt and tie, his work pants and boots still dusted from remodeling work in between. The project took about a year.
At the heart of Isaac’s growing show herd is Tusc-Vu Avalanche Cali-ET. He purchased her as a fall calf in 2017 at the Best of Triple T and Heath Sale.
During their recent classification in May, Cali was moved up to EX-96. Now eight years old and fresh in February with her sixth calf, she is milking 120 pounds a day and still commanding attention in the show ring.
In March, she was first-place lifetime production cow, senior, and grand champion of the Northeast Spring National Junior Holstein Show in Hamburg, New York. Her show career to-date includes being Reserve Junior All-American in 2020 and Junior All-American 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Cali was grand champion of the International Holstein Junior Show at World Dairy Expo in 2021 (above), where she also won her class four years in a row in the junior competition, and was second-place aged cow in 2024 open competition.
“She’s been a blessing,” Isaac says. “Easy to work with and hard to mess up. Cali really got us started and put us on the map.”
Her legacy continues as Isaac is raising several of her daughters, including J-Folts Unix Carly, co-owned with Jannalee Coleman.
Carly is already making waves of her own. As a milking yearling last fall, she was named Supreme bred-and-owned cow at the 2024 Premier National Junior Show (above) during All-American Dairy week in Harrisburg, where she was also the first-place milking yearling in the open show. She went on to place third milking yearling in the junior show at the 2024 World Dairy Expo in Madison.
“Cali has been with us every year at the World Dairy Expo, with us every step of the way and making great daughters,” Isaac reflects. “The oldest ones are all doing great. The ones that have calved out, have great udders, so she’s transmitting well, and the ones to come I am really excited about.”
Two other donor cows at Folts Farm before Cali were — Gen-Com Aftershock Lynn EX-91, who goes back to Idee Goldwyn Lynley EX-94, and Curr-Vale Brokaw Haven EX-90, who goes back to Hezbollah.
Their offspring, the H and L families bred at Folts Farm are shaping the herd and Isaac’s show string, carrying forward the genetics and type. This includes notables like J-Folts Sandstorm Lydia EX-94 95-MS, co-owned with Camryn and Maci Crothers. Out of the H’s, Isaac sold Hokulani, sired by Awesome, and she went on to be nominated All-American as a senior-two-year-old. This sale helped him pay for what he needed to renovate the feed mixing building into the show barn that he designed.
“Those two cows had great pedigrees to get into at a young age,” Isaac recalls. “I’ve been picking bulls since I could read a catalog — and sure, I’ve made some mistakes — but that’s how you learn.”
Holstein genetics and showing cattle are something Isaac has a real passion for. While building his show herd and contributing to refining the family’s main herd, he has managed two successful tag sales that featured his genetics.
Isaac is among the 2025-26 Distinguished Junior Members of the New York Junior Holstein Association. In 2022, he was a national finalist Young Distinguished Junior Member.
His 50-head show herd — with around a dozen milking — started out with modest tools, big ambition, and some smart foundation purchases. In the early days, he used a portable milker in the barn. Now, the show cows are walked twice a day to the family’s robotic milking barn, integrating show cattle into the larger operation while still managing them with individual care and attention.
At just 19 years old, Isaac already has a vision, a work ethic, and great experience. But he’s quick to credit the support system of family and mentors around him.
“You have to be able to make decisions, take responsibility, and learn as you go,” says Isaac. “My parents gave me the room to do that.”
Like other youths are learning throughout dairy and agriculture, legacy is not just something inherited, it is something to build. When youths have opportunities to take responsibility and make decisions, it fuels the initiative to make a plan and follow their dreams.
— Story by Sherry Bunting
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