Hirzel Farms in Ohio: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It

Profile updated November 2026

Hirzel Farms is a family farm in northwest Ohio that traces its roots to 1923 and has grown into one of the state's best known certified organic grain and processing operations. It sits beside the better known Hirzel Canning Company, which has reached its own 100-year mark, and together the family businesses show how a farm can add processing and composting without losing its land base.

History of Hirzel Farms

Hirzel Farms begins with Carl R. Hirzel, a Swiss-trained brewer who turned to farming in northwest Ohio after Prohibition began in 1920. According to the family's published history, his first product was sauerkraut made from surplus cabbage, and he and his wife, Lena, soon began canning whole tomatoes for sale in local general stores. The business was founded in 1923 as Hirzel Canning Company and Farms.

The farm side of the family business became a separate entity in 1963 and has stayed family owned. John E. Hirzel led it as president from 1970 until his death in February 2000. By 1981 about half of the 1,800-acre farm, as the farm's own history describes it, was certified organic, which the farm says made it the second such farm in Ohio. Today the farm is managed by Lou Kozma Jr., a fourth-generation family member and John Hirzel's nephew.

What Hirzel Farms Grows and Raises

The farm site describes a certified organic, non-GMO crop mix that includes wheat, rye, soybeans, corn, spelt and oats, along with vegetable production in its past. Soil health and biodiversity are stated as the guiding aims of the organic system.

Beyond the field, Hirzel Farms operates a grain and seed cleaning facility using advanced sorting equipment, and a large-scale composting operation that began with tomato and cabbage by-products from the family's food business. The compost returns to the farm's own organic fields, and the farm says the facility keeps millions of pounds of material out of landfills. The farm is also a member of the Artisan Grain Collaborative, which connects growers, millers and food producers in the Midwest.

How Hirzel Farms Makes Money

Organic grain sales

The farm's public materials point to certified organic grain as the core of the crop business, sold to buyers who need food-grade quality. Organic grain typically earns a premium over conventional commodity prices, but it also asks for longer rotations, tighter weed control and careful record keeping, and the farm's decades of experience are part of what it offers customers.

Grain, seed and food-grade processing

Hirzel Farms advertises cleaning and processing services that cover grain and seed, from receiving through final preparation. These services let the operation earn income from handling as well as growing.

Compost and by-product recovery

The composting business turns plant residue into a finished soil product. The farm lists compost retailers on its website, so the compost serves both as an input for its own organic fields and as a product sold outside the farm gate.

Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Hirzel Farms

The first lesson is that processing capacity can protect margin. By cleaning and handling grain on site, Hirzel Farms captures part of the value chain that many growers hand to a third party, and it controls the quality that organic buyers care about most.

The second is that waste streams can be turned into assets. The compost operation began with food-plant by-products and now feeds the farm's organic fields, replacing outside fertility while creating a product line. A third lesson is succession: the farm and the canning company separated in 1963, and each has stayed in the family across several generations by keeping roles and ownership clear.

How to Contact Hirzel Farms

Hirzel Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links

• Hirzel Farms: About - The farm's own history, organic timeline and services
• Hirzel Canning Company & Farms turns 100 - Independent press release on the family's 1923 founding and generations
• University of Toledo Family Business Center profile - University profile of the Hirzel family business and its local sourcing
• USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture, Ohio - State totals for farms, acres and sales
• USDA Farm Service Agency, Ohio - State office information on farm programs and loans

Hirzel Farms FAQ

When was Hirzel Farms founded?

The family's published history dates the business to 1923, when Carl R. Hirzel founded Hirzel Canning Company and Farms. The farm became a separate entity in 1963.

Is Hirzel Farms organic?

Yes. The farm says it uses certified organic practices, and its history states that half of its 1,800-acre farm was certified organic by 1981.

What does Hirzel Farms sell?

Its site lists certified organic grain, grain and seed cleaning services, food-grade processing and compost, with a page for compost retailers.

Is Hirzel Farms the same as Hirzel Canning Company?

They share a founder and family but are separate businesses. The canning company makes Dei Fratelli tomato products; the farm focuses on organic crops, processing and compost.

Hirzel Farms shows how a 1923 start can become a modern organic grain, seed-cleaning and compost operation without leaving the family. For the wider picture of crops, soils, programs and markets, read the Ohio state guide, and see the other profiled Ohio operations.