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STAFF PHOTO BY KAY JOHNSON

Randy Jurgenson, chairman of the McLeod County Extension Committee, introduces the Kevin Miller family of Brownton. They were honored as the 2021 McLeod County Farm Family of the Year at the McLeod County Fair. Pictured are, from left, Logan, Lindsay, Lane and Kevin Miller. Looking on is Lori Vicich, regional director of the University of Minnesota Extension, west central regional offi ce in St. Cloud.

Honoring four generations of Miller farmers

The Kevin Miller family of Brownton is the 2021 McLeod County Farm Family of the Year

BY KAY JOHNSON

johnson@hutchinsonleader.com

Herman Miller Sr. would be proud.

Four generations of the Miller family were honored collectively during the awards ceremony at the McLeod County Fair. His grandson Kevin Miller and his greatgrandchildren Logan, Lane and Lindsay were greeted with applause as the 2021 McLeod County Family of the Year.

The Miller family of Brownton was one of 81 families from throughout Minnesota honored in person by the University of Minnesota at the annual Minnesota Farmfest earlier this month.

For more than 30 years, the Farm Family Recognition Program has honored farm families throughout Minnesota for their contributions to agriculture and communities. The selected families — one per county — were chosen by local University of Minnesota Extension committees.

“It was a surprise to me,” said Kevin Miller following Saturday’s ceremony. “We heard about the nomination in April. We’re a fourthgeneration family deal.”

Miller can trace his farm lineage to 1948 when his grandfather Herman Miller Sr. purchased the home farm in Penn Township. He farmed and raised pigs until 1955. His death left 15-yearold son Herman Jr. to carry on the family legacy. While he finished high school, his sister and brother-in-law ran the farm.

Herman Jr. took over after he graduated, continuing in the footsteps of his father. His oldest son, Kevin, continued the tradition, joining his dad in the family farming operation in the late 1970s. The two farmed together until 2006, when Herman semi-retired and Kevin took over. The next generation — Logan and Lane — have stepped up to help their dad continue the family tradition.

Kevin and his sons currently raise pigs in a farrowto-finish operation, as well as producing corn for Heartland Corn Products, sweet corn for Seneca Foods, and soybeans for seed production. In addition to farming with their dad, Lane and Logan rent some of their own land and are raising a small cow/calf beef herd with plans to expand.