Farming legacy revived at Bellhurst Farm in Cuba

By JOHN BARTIMOLE

October 3, 2026

CUBA — Aaron and Carly Santangelo are living proof that hundreds of miles and different passions are no match for fate.

The owners of Bellhurst Farm in Cuba, the couple have crafted a surging business featuring dairy goats, transforming a once-dormant fifth-generation family farm into one that now boasts a lineup of products made with pasteurized goat milk cheese.

Carly’s involvement with dairy goats began at age 7 in her first registered dairy goats that she purchased from a family friend and mentor. She showed her goats successfully at local, state and national levels as a member of the American Dairy Goat Association. While Aaron was a 4H participant, his involvement was more with market hogs and dairy cows than with goats. met while undergrads at Cornell University. shared different passions, but we both loved agriculture,” Aaron said. “After college, we moved to the area to a farm that my great-great-grandfather had purchased and one that my grandparents had worked.”

That was in 2013. Thirteen years later, the Santangelos have restored the family farm and the family dream, building on a foundation built by their respective families in agriculture.

“We’re both really happy that our parents involved us in the 4H and farming activities and allowed us to participate in these kinds of things,” Aaron said. “I tell people we run a fifth-generation farm, once-removed.”

Aaron said those who may have tried goat cheese products in the past would find a difference in their selections.

“One of the great features about our products is their freshness and their quality,” he said. “Some who tried goat cheese products in the past may have been turned off if they bought it in a store. Our products are very mild in flavor and don’t have as much of an off-putting taste as others may have on the market.

“Our products come from our animals, their milk, and our processing plant, and are very fresh,” he added. “We put our work, our quality in every product.”

And those products include chèvre, a soft spreadable cheese available in plain, maple, everything, garlic and herb flavors; and feta, handmade in small batches with a salty and tangy taste.

While the Santangelos don’t sell directly from their farm, Bellhurst products are available at Canticle Farm in Allegany, Scoops & Crumbs in Cuba), Nature’s Remedy in Ellicottville, Miller’s Farm Market in Olean, Carlberg Farm Products in Jamestown, Erba Verde Farms in East Aurora, and Spring Bottom Farm in Fillmore.

“For us, this is a passion project,” Aaron said.

“It really is 24-7, where our lives revolve around the weather and the cooperation of our animals.

It’s great to be involved in something that everyday is different, and it gives us the ability to bring our family up in the world of taking care of animals.

“Our passion is to see our product go from bailing hay in the summertime to putting it on someone’s plate as the finished product,” he said.

“We work hard to keep our goats well taken care of. Good milk comes from happy goats … and good milk goes a long way to making good cheese.”

The Santangelos’ involvement in the Laine Business Accelerator comes from a desire to learn and to connect.

“That (connecting) is the biggest thing,” Aaron said. “What’s nice is that these people are from the community, and you can learn from them. Our community is so unique.

We get to interact with people who know their business, are passionate about improving their community and are willing to share their knowledge and insights.”

While he said the time commitment to the LBA is heavy, “It’s definitely going to be worth it. It’s exciting to look forward to that weekly commitment and the meetings and taking what you learned in those three or four hours and bring it to your business.”

A business that has spanned generations thanks to a couple that followed fate — and, ultimately, their destiny.