The year of Greg Hartzler's birthday, 1964, marked a real milestone in the family's farming history. This was the year his father, Harold, stopped using petroleum-based fertilizers and began developing his organic farming methods. As a result, the youngest Hartzler son has never known anything but the natural way of agriculture.

Some of Greg's first memories are riding the tractor with his father in the muddy Springs while sowing oats. He continued his career path in dairy farming by investing in two Holstein cows almost immediately after graduating from high school. After a short stint in the Florida turf business, Greg began what he terms a family "apprenticeship" working first with Jeff and John on their farm and later with Gene. In 1991, he began renting and working his own dairy in Smithville. Today, almost a third of his herd of 31 cows are the offspring of the first two Holsteins he purchased.