Hartington dairy stocking up after trucker protests

 Burbach's Countryside Dairy in Hartington usually has a room full of empty bottles to ship their milk off, come Monday. But they're running low, and worried that new ones won't come in time for delivery. 

 

"So every three months we order bottles. We're at that point where we need them again, [...] They were scheduled for mid-February but we think it won't be till March," said Dean Burbach, owner.

 

Burbach has been asking customers to return their glass bottles so he can reuse them. Thankfully, he's seeing an 80% return rate as opposed to the usual 70%.

 

Still, the challenges of the pandemic are bigger than spilled milk. Burbach said his wife and he even considered selling the business during the pandemic, which would be painful given the decades and family memories in it. 

 

"I grew up on a dairy farm in West Hartington, I thought I liked it I guess," Burbach said. His wife and he started dairy in 1999. They began bottling for jsut four local stores in 2006, and now ship to 95 businesses across the state. 

 

"It's a challenge," Dean Burbach said.

 

"Being with family every day is nice, I wish I wasn't the only [sibling] helping out," said Deacon Burbach, their son and employee. 

"Everyone needs their products so I hope it works out," said Deacon Burbach. 

 

Fortunately, their shipping company tells NCN the roads are cleared as of Thursday.