Perseverance to dairy

PLAINVIEW, Minn. — For John and Kris Miller, who started their dairy farm from scratch, being named Wabasha County Farm Family of the Year is an honor they identify as one of their proudest moments of farming.

The Millers, alongside their son, Thomas, and his wife, Bailey, dairy farm near Plainview. They milk 380 cows and farm 700 acres of owned and rented land, growing corn, alfalfa and canning peas.

“(Farming) it’s a disease,” Miller said. “I worked off the farm for a few years after high school, I went to college, ... and I enjoyed the work I was doing, but all the while, something was missing. ... I had to do it. ... Some people can cure or live with it and other people just have to go with it.”

Miller grew up on a dairy farm near Conception, but his own farm is a legacy he started in 1991 on a rented farm with 28 cows he purchased from his dad.

“It was frustrating at times,” Miller said. “My friends that were farming were all farming with their dad. ... There were a lot of times I felt like I was out and I was totally alone. I didn’t have the backup. I felt every mistake I made severely.”

The feedback from those around them was also not positive Kris said.

“We had a lot of people tell us, ‘You’ll never make it,’” she said.

Miller agreed.

“(We) never got a lot of moral support,” he said.

After their first four years, the Millers had increased their cow numbers to almost 50. They moved to the farm they live at now and increased their herd to 75-80.

In 2000 they purchased the first 80 acres of their farm and several years later bought 160 more acres.

They built a freestall barn in the early 2000s and at the same time, they increased their herd to about 150-180. They built a double-10 herringbone parlor in 2002-2003. Since then, their herd numbers have grown from within.

The Millers said the biggest challenge they have faced has been financial.

“There were a couple of times I just didn’t know if it was going to work,” Miller said. “2009 was probably the worst. ... We had to sit down and think, do we really want to keep doing this?”

The Millers said their banker worked on their behalf.

“I remember asking him one time, ‘So why do you keep doing this for me?’” Miller said. “He goes, ‘I see what you do. You work hard. You get your work done. ... You’re not on vacation. You’re not driving fancy pickups. As long as you keep trying, I’ll keep trying too.’”

Miller said having that type of support made a difference.

“It’s things like that, that just make you work harder,” Miller said. “Having that feeling — that people think you aren’t going to make it or don’t have what it takes — drives you.”

One of the highlights of the Millers’ farming career was receiving the Outstanding Conservationists Award in 2012 by the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Miller learned conservation from his dad. To prevent soil erosion, one of the first things Miller did on his current farm was to plan contour strips. He also uses cover crops.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” Miller said. “It was my dad who always says you never really own the land. You’re just given the right to run it for a while. So, I’d like to leave it in as good or better shape for the next generation than what I found (it).”

The family has begun the process of transitioning the farm to Thomas. Their other children, Haley, and her husband, Jake, and Joe and Nick, work off the farm but help as they are able.

“We asked a lot, a lot of questions,” Miller said. “It was a drawn-out process. ... we still have a long way to go, but we met with lawyers and accountants on how to transfer stuff,
looking at tax liabilities and stuff like that and just overall risk. ... (We) talked a lot with the other kids about how things might look.”

The farm is going to be made into a limited liability company in the new year and they plan to begin the process of signing over some assets.

As time goes on, they will slowly transition responsibility and ownership.

“There’s a lot of emotions that go along with it,” Miller said.

The Millers expressed that transitioning is both difficult and good considering they were not sure a few years ago whether another generation would join the farm.

“I still feel like I got a lot of things I want to accomplish in life,” Miller said.