About Arethusa Farm

Directions to Arethusa click here
Arethusa Farm was established in 1999 when owners, George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis, purchased a horse farm across from their Litchfield, Connecticut home. The original plan called for starting a dairy farm and bottling milk for sale to the local community. However, as new barns were built, and old ones remodeled, a new plan started to take shape. George and Tony were introduced to “show cows”. They attended The Royal Winter Fair in 2001 where they introduced themselves to Ernie Kueffner. He had just exhibited both the Grand and Reserve Grand Champions and they were interested to learn how he became successful at the top level. They wanted him to join them in building Arethusa Farm.

Kueffner was hired as a Marketing Consultant in the spring of 2002. At the same time, Arethusa purchased a promising young cow, Ernest-Anthony SC Vivian, and a group of ten open heifers (including Sammy & Ariel) from Ernie. Vivian is now 2E96 and Leduc Sammy 2E95. This purchase gave Arethusa Farm an outstanding group of deep-pedigreed young cows to build on. They have filled the barns with promising daughters and grand daughters.

In the spring of 2002, Ernie began looking at potential additions for the farm and Hillcroft Leader Melanie was purchased in Ontario. She went on to be unanimous All-American and All-Canadian 4-year old that year. Melanie calved in August of 2003 and became a back-to-back milking-class winner at Madison and All-American 5-year old. While on an intensive flush program in 2004 she continued to milk well and was exhibited at World Dairy Expo fresh 14 months.

Also waiting for a chance at the competition was the new Arethusa Jersey, Huronia Centurion Veronica EX97. Veronica was named Grand Champion Jersey at the 2004 World Dairy Expo. Then, 2 days later, Melanie was named Grand Champion Holstein. This was unprecedented! The same farm sent two cows into the Supreme Championship competition - then Veronica was announced as Reserve Supreme Champion and Melanie was named Supreme Champion at the 2004 World Dairy Expo! Arethusa Farm made history at World Dairy Expo.

Melanie went on to be Unanimous All-American Aged Cow and was voted 2005 World Champion Holstein by the readers of Holstein International magazine. Veronica has since proven that she, too, can milk over a year, continue flushing and show successfully. Veronica was fresh 16 months when she was named Supreme Champion at the PA All-American in 2005. Two weeks later she went to World Dairy Expo and was named Grand Champion for the second consecutive year. She repeated this feat in 2006, winning the Supreme Championship at the PA All-American and Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo. But, this time she took the spotlight during the Supreme Championship and was named Supreme Champion of World Dairy Expo.

Melanie and Veronica have established themselves as the matriarchs of Arethusa Farm. They are both proven show-winners with tremendous milk production and are outstanding flush cows. These traits, combined with deep pedigrees, keep their offspring and embryos in high demand. They both define the “total package” when it comes to dairy cows and are the kind of cattle that we want to breed from.

The overwhelming success of the 2004 show campaign brought much excitement to the owners of Arethusa. They began talking about building more facilities. The goal at Arethusa Farm has always been to breed a herd of outstanding individuals carrying the Arethusa prefix, while continually marketing offspring and embryos in order to see a return on the investment.

In August 2005, a new heifer facility was completed with 24 group pens, curtain ventilation, and inside wash rack. Calves are moved to this barn (80’ X 280’) around 5 months of age and stay until they are close to calving. Heifers have access to pastures through the summer and fall.

In 2006, the existing calf barn was enlarged. It now accommodates up to 80 calves in individual pens as well as 6 group pens that allow weaned calves to adapt to this concept before moving to the heifer barn.

The new large milking facility was completed in 2006. This houses 80 cows and features 12 box stalls, tunnel ventilation, automatic feeder, comfort mattresses, inside wash rack, large feed storage area, and pasture access. An attractive conference room in the main entryway displays Arethusa show memorabilia.

Our herd is almost completely home-bred now with the Holsteins boasting a 113.8 BAA. We exhibit many home-bred animals at national shows. The success of our breeding program became evident when Arethusa Farm was named Premier Breeder at World Dairy Expo 2009 for the first time! We also exhibited our first two home-bred All-Americans in 2009: Arethusa Affection-ETS VG88 – All-American Fall Yearling in Milk and Arethusa Deluxe Lyric VG89 – All-American & All-Canadian Fall Yearling in Milk.

Continued embryo transfer and invitro fertilization work means that there are always Arethusa Farm cattle for sale. We currently have 325 head on the farm and we aim to keep the herd between 300-350 total. In 2010, we plan to sell 100 head privately and through public auctions in order to do so.

Arethusa Farm entered a new venture in 2009 – bottling and marketing our own Arethusa milk. Discussions started when the milk price reached an all-time low early in the year. By June, we had found a bottling location, produced our labels, contacted retail stores and introduced Arethusa Farm Dairy to the local community. After six months of educating consumers about our product and developing our market, the owners purchased a firehouse in Bantam, CT that will become the home of the Arethusa Farm Dairy Creamery in 2010! More information about our products can be found at www.arethusafarmdairy.com.

Arethusa Farm currently has a nucleus of twelve excellent employees that have one thing in common—they love working with good cattle. This passion is evident in their dedication to detail. We offer opportunities to work with our staff and learn how we care for the cows daily through our summer intern program. We also host trainees from foreign countries throughout the year.

It has been an exciting decade for Arethusa Farm with many milestones reached and new goals set. But one thing remains consistent . . . the cows always come first. When you enter our milk barn, you are greeted by a sign reading “Every cow in this barn is a lady, please treat her as such.” We follow that philosophy on a daily basis as we focus on breeding and developing a herd of tremendous home-bred Holsteins and Jerseys.

New Barns being built at Arethusa - check them out! Directions to Arethusa click here