Ankony Angus was founded in 1935 by New York businessman, Allan Ryan. Ryan was Chairman of the board of the company his grandfather had founded in 1904 - Royal Typewriter Company. This practical man was dedicated to excellence in all endeavors. His purchase of 10 Briarcliff Angus heifers from his neighbor, Myron Fuerst, in the midst of the depression for $150 each, initiated a shot that has echoed around the cattle world for the last six decades.
Ryan formed a partnership with Lee Leachman in 1948. The partnership formed between the two men a year later set the stage for a purebred operation never before seen in Angus history.
From the start, the Ankony breeding program became a lesson study in animal genetics and management. The cow herd grew to a collection of unparalleled productive cow families from which the top end were never priced, sold or shown.
Ankony bulls came to be looked upon as individuals with their own identity, description and uniqueness. The prefix "Ankonian" became synonymous with herd bull power, transmitting individuality as well as value to their progeny.
During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the Chicago International became the Ankony display case. Easily the world's most competitive and meaningful Angus show, Ankony bulls laid claim to more championships and class winners in this prestigious show than the next three competitors combined.
Ankony's show ring achievements were rivaled only by corresponding results in the sale ring. Ankony's sales were record setting events as leading breeders from throughout the world eagerly sought to own the Ankony product.
In the summer of 1966, shocking news hit the press - Allan Ryan and Lee Leachman would dissolve their partnership with the Ankony dispersion scheduled for October 13, 14 and 15. But prior to that breaking news, the owners of Ankony and master breeder Myron Fuerst were working out a plan for the Ankony name and its famous tradition to carry on. Seeing the need to be closer to the exploding expansion of the breed in the western states, Ankony purchased the Clayton Jennings' Hyland Angus Ranch near Highmore, S.D.
As expected, the Ankony dispersion shattered all sales records, grossing over $2.6 million on 66 bulls and 580 females. The event was a fitting tribute to men who had dreamed the impossible dream in the Angus cattle genetics and achieved their goal.
Now it was time to meet new challenges. The Ankony herd felt right at home in the West. The Ankony show herd continued the winning tradition with several successful outings at the National Western Stock Show, claiming championships both on the hill and in the yards.
Performance became the order of the day. Ankony began weighing all calves at birth, weaning and yearling, initiating one of the most complete information systems in the beef industry. The serious business of cattle breeding became even more intense at Ankony as they sensed the need for change to meet industry needs. Commercial men were demanding larger framed, more efficient cattle than had been the order of the day in years past.
The study of carcass traits and performance led them to the Emulous line, and more specifically to the Murray Corbin herd at Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The herd was purchased in its entirety in 1969.
In 1969, Ankony was purchased by Equity Funding of California. Ankony now had units at Highmore, S.D.; Bloomfield, Iowa; Nursery, Texas; and Grand Junction, Colo. From these divisions came the Grand Champion Bull at the 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 National Western Stock Shows.
1975 brought about the sale of Ankony once again, this time to international industrialist Dr. Armand Hammer, founder of Occidental Petroleum. Dr. Hammer knew the value of the Ankony herd and wasted no time in purchasing it. The name "Ankony Shadow Isle" was christened, and the Ankony program was full speed ahead.
The winning ways of the Ankony show herd continued in Denver on the hill and in the yards through the 1980s. A strong commercial bull market in the West strengthened their position. Typical of the Ankony tradition, a major move was coming.
In 1982, in search of a herd bull of unique merit and pedigree, Dr. Hammer became interested in the much publicized Auburn Test Station champion, Lovana, owned by Virgil Lovell, Clarkesville, Ga. This intensely bred Emulous bull carried a heavy concentration of Murray Corbin blood whose herd Ankony had purchased nearly 15 years before. Lovana was purchased from the Georgia firm for a record valuation of $1.35 million. It has proven time and time again to be one of the wisest investments Ankony Angus ever made. Lovana indeed followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Ankonian Dynamo, with blanket acceptance throughout the breed.
The further emphasis of total performance through the 1980s really propelled the Ankony program to the forefront. With such large contemporary groups, Ankony's AHIR information began a database second to none in the beef industry. Ankony became one of the first herds to effectively use EPDs as a means of herd evaluation and through Ankony's cooperative efforts with Texas Tech University, ultrasound became an additional tool in identifying the superiority of Angus seedstock.
In December 1990, the world lost one of its most influential leaders and dedicated Angus breeders with the death of Dr. Armand Hammer. The Ankony herd was to remain intact as Virgil Lovell, a Georgia cattleman-businessman, stepped forward and fulfilled a boyhood dream of "some day owning Ankony". He not only purchased the Ankony herd, but also the name, trademarks and the Minatare Ranch facilities. It would be hard to have picked a buyer to carry on the great Ankony name with more enthusiasm and respect than Virgil Lovell.
From boyhood, Virgil Lovell has been a student of pedigrees. He has always followed the Ankony program closely.
During the 70s and through the 80s, Mr. Lovell was involved in breeding some of the most valuable and winningest cattle in the country involving Angus, Chianina, Brangus, Salers and Charolais. He was responsible for breeding two National Grand and Reserve Salers females, the Grand Champion Bull at the 10th Anniversary World Show and the Brangus Sire of the Year in 1986 and 1987. Also, three National Grand and three Reserve Charolais females, twice Premier Breeder and Exhibitor, two National Grand Champion Bulls and National Reserve Grand, and the highest averaging sale in the modern history of the Charolais breed. His Angus operation was responsible for sales that were always in the top five gross and average from 1979 through 1984 and was in the top three on our nationally competitive firms.
The new Ankony had broad purebred and commercial acceptance. Bulls for the commercial man and Ankonian seedstock were sought across the country. The Ankonian name continued in the pedigree of many successful Angus breeding cattle. Ankony, during this short time period, merchandised in excess of $11,000,000 worth of cattle. Ankony exhibited the Reserve Grand Pen and Carloads in Denver in 1994 and 1995.
In 1996, due to increasing business ventures and a limited schedule, Mr. Lovell returned the farm operation to the Lovell home place. Rich in cattle and purebred history, the Clarkesville farm was now home to the Ankony name. Under the intense leadership of Virgil Lovell, the purebred endeavors continue and the Ankony name will live on. Quality will still be the main focus and a love for the purebred business will always run deep in the roots at Ankony. Original Ankony history by Dale Runyan
