Arethusa Farm was established in 1999. Owners George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis purchased the Ltichfield, CT property with the intent of 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 became interested in the world of show cows. In 2004, Arethusa made history at
the World Dairy Expo. Farm matriarchs, Hillcroft Leader Melanie and Huronia Centurion Veronica were named Supreme Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion respectively. Overwhelming show success fueled major growth on the farm. New heifer, calf and state of the art milking facilities were built, and the herd is now almost entirely home-bred. These beautiful animals are exhibited at several national shows each year and garnered Arethusa numerous Premier Breeder, Premier Exhibitor, Junior Champion, Grand Champion, Supreme Champion, All-American and All-Canadian awards. A core of fifteen exceptional employees work hard with one principle in mind — the cows always come first. When one enters Arethusa’s milk barn they are greeted by a sign reading, “Every cow in this barn is a lady, please treat her as such.” That philosophy is put into practice on a daily basis as the team focuses on the continued breeding and development of tremendous home-bred Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss.
