The farm had a modest origin when in 1919 Elmer Henry Maytag, son of Maytag Corporation founder Frederick Louis Maytag I, purchased a single cow to provide fresh clean milk for his family. E.H. Maytag soon thereafter began to develop a small herd of champion Holstein-Friesian cows that would supply milk to his community while winning a vast number of blue ribbons at livestock shows across the United States. Within a few years of buying his first cow, E.H. Maytag had likely created the finest herd of Holstein-Friesians in the U.S. The offspring from his herd began to attract buyers from around the world.