Team Spirit
The Arnusch family farm owes its existence to the sugar beet. Andreas Arnusch and his wife Katharina emigrated from Austria to the U.S. in 1952 with their three sons, seeking new opportunities. Settling in Keenesburg, CO, Andreas quickly found work in the local sugar beet industry due to his expertise. By 1956, they had saved enough to buy their own 40-acre farm, expanding it to 200 acres by 1961. The three sons, Nik, Hans, and Franz, joined the farming efforts over the years. Despite challenges like harsh weather, including a devastating blizzard in 1969, the family persevered, eventually harvesting their crop by February 1970.
Marc
President
Marc Arnusch is a third-generation farmer and businessman and the owner of Marc Arnusch Farms, LLC. After graduating from college with a degree in Agriculture Economics, Marc returned to the family farm in 1995.
When not actively farming, Marc volunteers his time to provide leadership within agriculture. He has been the President of the Colorado Corn Board, President of both Weld and Morgan County Farm Bureaus, and served as a Director and Treasurer on the Colorado Farm Bureau Board of Directors for ten years. His leadership skills include national experience with the American Farm Bureau in Washington, DC serving as a technical advisor.
Water touches everything in Colorado and this is especially true in agriculture. Marc has taken an active role in discussing the future of water in Colorado and he is often asked to speak at such events as CSU’s Waters of the West Symposium, making presentations before the Interim Water Review Committee and testifying at the State Capitol trying to shape the future of water administration in our State. Since 2014, Marc has served on the Colorado Ground Water Commission and has been the Chairman of the Commission the last two years.
DTN/Progressive Farmer Magazine named Marc as one of America’s Best Young Farmers and Ranchers in 2014, he was recognized by the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame as its 2017 Rising Star in Agriculture award recipient and Marc Arnusch Farms received the 2018 Conservationist of the Year Award from the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts. Marc was named to the inaugural Denver Business Journal Who’s Who in Colorado Agriculture list in 2019.
Marc and his wife Jill are celebrating over 32 years of marriage and are the proud parents of their son, Brett; his wife Alexis; and their new daughter, Charlotte. In his free time, Marc is an avid CSU football fan, a proud CSU and Alpha Gamma Rho alum and he enjoys college sports of all kinds. You’ll also find him surfing the internet or picking through antique stores for old farm signs!
Jill is co-owner of Marc Arnusch Farms, LLC and the glue that holds our farm together. After graduating from college with her degree in Business, Jill and Marc returned to the family farm to begin their journey of farming together. Early on in this journey, Jill worked an additional job as an office manager at a photography studio, Shadowfax in Greeley, for 5 years. Now, she works on the farm full-time doing all the administrative work; tracking all billing, licensing, and registration for vehicles and equipment, managing payroll and other finances, and connecting with companies and contractors outside of the farm to keep all buildings maintained and to make sure everyone has all of the technology and resources they need to do their jobs. Jill also keeps up with the selling of our commodities by being the point of contact for clients and customers, handling all business logistics, and coordinating shipping and pick-up with clients and customers. Jill has managed the books for the farm through its many changes over the years and continues to keep our operation in order.
Over the years, Jill has invested many hours to our community. She served 4 years on the Board of Directors for Cardinal Community Academy, was a local 4H project leader for 10 years, and a Sunday school teacher for over 10 years.
In her spare time, Jill loves spending time with her granddaughter, Charlotte, enjoying the mountain air whenever she can, and crafting.
Jill
Controller
Brett
Executive VP of Strategy
Brett Arnusch is a fourth-generation farmer and the owner of Arnusch Hay Company, LLC. After graduating from Colorado State University with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Resource and Economics, he returned to the family farm in 2018. During college, Brett had the unique opportunity to intern for Hortau, a precision irrigation management company that specializes in soil moisture probes. Brett was able to bring this technology back to the farm and our water management practices have significantly improved. In 2019, Brett was named to Progressive Farmer’s Best Young Farmers and Ranchers class for his innovative approach to gathering and utilizing data points captured on the farm.
Brett has positioned himself to be aligned with Marc Arnusch Farms as he specializes in growing high-performance horse hay and other livestock feeds. With a deep-rooted passion for agriculture and a commitment to quality, Brett has established himself as a key figure in the local farming community.
When Brett is not busy on the farm, he is heavily involved in the Colorado Farm Bureau. In 2023 Brett was selected to be part of the Elite Leadership Academy, a year-long, intensive leadership and professional development program. During his time with this program, he was able to travel to Canada to tour large scale farming operations, a beef processing plant and Nutrien’s North American mining facility.
Brett and Alexis married in 2022 and welcomed their first daughter, Charlotte in 2023. In his spare time, Brett enjoys watching and betting on any and all sports, spending time with his family and fishing.
Originally from San Martin, California, Alexis made her way to the Centennial State by way of attending Colorado State University where she majored in Agricultural Business and minored in Agricultural Literacy. During her time at CSU, Alexis interned for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council in Washington D.C. where she found her passion for federal lands and ESA issues that impact cattle and sheep producers across the western U.S. She also interned for the Colorado BQA program where she worked to encourage more sustainable management practices for cattle producers across the state.
Through her time at CSU, she found a passion for working for producers and landed her first job at Where Food Comes From- IMI Global. At IMI Global, she managed a team of auditors in the western US to help cattle producers achieve verified marketing claims and gain higher premiums on their beef.
As the Director of Business Enhancement, Alexis manages outreach programs and tours that the farm is involved in, maintains compliance with crop records, contracts and other business standard operating procedures and manages any special projects that may come across the family’s desk.
Brett and Alexis married in 2022 and welcomed their first daughter, Charlotte in 2023. In her spare time, Alexis enjoys spending time with her family both in Colorado and California, golfing and fishing.
Alexis
Director of Business Enhancement
Clayton
Farm Manager
Our farm manager, Clayton Stille, is an Iowa native and spent most of his growing up years in a small town in the state’s Southwest corner. He started with Arnusch Farms in February of 2024 and quickly found his place on the farm and became a huge contributor to all our endeavors. Despite being a relatively young professional, he has an impressive resume with a wide variety of useful skills that he was able to bring with him to the farm. Through his childhood and into his young adult years Clayton worked as a farm hand for local Iowa producers, where he developed a solid familiarity with different agriculture operations. Clayton graduated from Iowa Western Community College in 2021 with an associate’s degree in construction management and shortly after graduating, Clayton moved West.
For the bulk of Clayton’s time out west, he had a major role on a management team for Summit Line Construction, working on major transmission line projects spanning from eastern Wyoming to Utah to Nevada and New Mexico. After gaining invaluable experience in personnel and construction management, Clayton was ready to return to the world of agriculture and get back into the work he enjoys the most.
Clayton quickly settled in with us in Keenesburg and has since started raising his own livestock while maintaining his “jack-of-all-trades” role for the farm. He spends his workdays actively engaged in every project and on every field doing everything from hand spraying weeds around pivots to guiding and contributing to decisions about crop management. Clayton is extremely hard-working, diligent, and driven; he’s never one to walk away from an incomplete task or shy away from a project of any kind.
In his spare time, Clayton enjoys trips to the mountains, hunting, camping, fishing, and spending time with friends and family. He is truly passionate about his livestock and thoroughly enjoys caring for the animals and working to grow his operation.