Where can I return my bottle(s)?

You can return our bottles to any store that sells our milk. For our half gallon milk bottles you are charged a $1.50 deposit and then it is refunded to you when you return it. We collect the bottles from the stores, wash and sanitize them, and then reuse them. Our quart bottles do not have a deposit on them, however, if you'd like to return the bottle to the store we can recycle them for you since they are made of glass and easily recycled. More on our glass bottles...

What is the plug on top of my milk when I open my glass bottle?

That is the cream! We do not homogenize our milk allowing the cream to rise to the top naturally. When opening your bottle we suggest you shake the bottle. We have customers shove it down in with a butter knife and others that take it out with a spoon and put it in their coffee. However, you want to enjoy it is good news to us. Read more about non-homogenization...

Are Hartzler cows grass fed?

Our cows are grass fed and free to roam in pasture. More specifically, our cows graze on grass that is without pesticides or herbicides in warm months, and receive pesticide-free hay and silage grown on our own farms during snowy winter months. More on the health benefits of grass fed cows...

Also note that all of the cow pictures on our website came specifically from our farms.

Does Hartzler's give their cows any artificial hormones?

We never use drugs to increase milk production in our animals. Our cows are naturally happy, grazing freely in grass pastures during warm months, and enjoying pesticide-free grasses, hay, and silage - grown on Hartzler’s own farms - during winters. Because our cows are artificial hormone-free, so is our milk. More on the health benefits of your milk being artificial hormone-free...

Do you give your cows antibiotics?

Because we do not stress our cows with artificial hormones--they tend to stay healthy most of the time. However, when there is a case when a cow will get an infection, mainly mastitis, we do treat the cow with an antibiotic but it is milked separate from the herd and that milk is thrown out. We return the cow to the herd only after the required withdrawal time has been met. Every load of milk brought into our plant is tested for antibiotics. We have never failed this test in 15 years of processing. More on antibiotic testing...

How does Hartzler milk compare to raw milk?

Pasteurization is required by the Food and Drug Administration to kill potentially harmful microorganisms. Raw milk is not pasteurized and illegal to sell in the state of Ohio. Hartzler’s low-temperature method complies with all FDA regulations and has always passed quality and safety inspections. Hartzler's uses a low temperature vat pasteurization process where the milk is gently heated to 145 degrees and held in a vat for 30 minutes. We are the only dairy in Ohio to do this. This method kills harmful bacteria but leaves enzymes and amino acid chains and other nutrients intact. We also do not homogenize our milk which is breaking down the cream into small particles. More on the health benefits of being low temperature vat pasteurized...

For those loyal customers looking for their cream-top milk: Why is their no cream on top of my milk?

Recently, we have had a few customers who regularly buy our products but when they opened their milk, there was no cream (yet). They were concerned that we had changed our processing, but rest assured we will continue to low temperature vat pasteurize our milk and leave it non-homogenized, providing the most health benefits.

Here is the real reason why the cream wasn't there: Hartzler's milk is processed 3 times weekly and shipped to stores either the same day or the following day. If you buy the milk when it only has been out of the cow for a couple days then it is so fresh that it hasn't had time to separate yet. This can take up to 5 days sitting on the shelf.

If you give it time to settle in your refrigerator then the cream plug should have time to form or you can try to buy an earlier date at the grocery store that has already had time for the cream to separate.

"..The Cream Rises to the top"