Longtim
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
—One of the longtime dairy cattle
exhibitors at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show has something new to
look forward to this year.
Mike Miller and his wife, Linda,
have three children, Heidi, Holly,
and Harrison, who will all be
showing dairy cattle at the 2000
Pennsylvania Farm Show. But 17
year old Heidi plays another role in
this year’s event she will sing
the national anthem during both
Farm Show opening ceremonies
on Saturday and the livestock auc
tion on Thursday.
This is the fifth time that Heidi
has sung the national anthem in
front of a large audience, perform
ing at the Harrisburg Senators, the
Hershey Bears, and other local
events. Heidi and IS year old Hol
ly have recently formed a singing
group with local farm boys, Jesse
Baumgardner of Lebanon and Tyl
er Bower of Harrisburg.
The group’s most recent perfor
mance was at the York County
Holstein Club. “We like to per
form at local meetings and
events,” explained Heidi. “And we
are interested in singing at more
local churches.”
The girls are following in their
father’s footsteps, who used to
sing with his family as “The Sing
ing Millers” back in the early 70’s.
“The girls use the original sound
equipment that my family had
back then,” said Mike. “We
thought of selling it several years
ago. But my father said to hold
onto it I’m glad we did.”
Mike’s parents, Paul and Pat,
got Mike started in his dairy cattle
showing career on their farm in
Dauphin county. The Millers have
been showing cattle at the Farm
Show since 1972, and Paul will
have one of his animals shown by
Heidi at this year’s show.
The Millers are taking seven
animals to Farm Show this year—
six Holsteins and one Brown
Swiss. “Harry wanted to show a
Brown Swiss,” said Mike. “So last
year, we bought Dublin Hills
Jason-Lee Ellee, who will be a
spring calf at the Farm Show this
year.”
Not interested in singing, 14
year old Harrison keeps busy help
ing his father take care of the ani
mals on the farm.
The Millers attend the Farm
(Ltoß) Holly and Heidi are enjoying their new venture,
performing at local events, meetings, and church activities.
The Miller girls are always looking for more opportunities
for their singing quartet.
e Dairy Exhibitors Share Talents At Farm Show
Show each year, despite weather
hazards and die crowds, because
they enjoy the opportunity to meet
new people. “Each year new exhi
bitors come to the show,” said Lin
da. “It’s a great chance for the kids
to make new friends.”
The Millers also enjoy all of the
activities at the Farm Show. “The
rodeo is our favorite,” said Holly.
“We also like the food at the Food
Court.” But eating the entire week
at the Food Court can get expen
sive, so they bring most of their
food from home.
Mike’s parents still help out the
family at the show. Paul comes
every day to help feed and fit the
animals, while Pat brings the food.
Linda’s nephew, Nathan Heim,
also will tie his heifer with the
Millers at the Farm Show. “Nathan
and Harry ate my main helpers on
the farm during the summertime,”
said Mike.
Linda and the kids stay over
night at the Farm Show while Mike
treks back and forth each day,
bringing the feed and taking care
of things at home.
“The blizzard in 1995 was the
worst,” recalled Mike. “We drove
the truck through mounds of snow
and had cops stopping us because
of the closed roads.”
But, according to Linda, that
was the best year because there
weren’t any people there. “Satur
days and Sundays are the worst
days for the crowds,” she
explained. “But most of the people
are really nice. And, on a more
positive note, you’re promoting
your cattle to a lot of people.”
Over the years, Mike has seen
the show change from a mostly
Holstein show to more color breed
exhibitors. “It’s not a high pressure
show, either,” said Mike. “Many
of the top breeders don’t'•bring
their cattle because of the cold
weather. It’s more of a fun event
for the family.”
Mike, Holly, and Harry will
bodyclip the animals this week to
get them ready for Farm Show.
Then they’ll hire professional fit
ters to do the animals* toplines
when they get up there. “We still
have two that aren’t halter-broke,”
said Harrison. “The other ones
were shown before, but we have to
start working on those two.”
The Farm Show is one of several
dairy shows the Millers exhibit at
each year. They show at local fairs
and at county, district, and some-
The Miller family Is gearing up for their week at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. (Ltoß)
Heidi, Linda, Holly, and (Far Left) Harrison will stay overnight at the Show, while Mike
will make his dally commute from their home north of Harrisburg.
times state 4-H shows. Mike
claims that if the kids wouldn’t
want to show, he wouldn’t do it
“It’s their project, not mine.”
The Millers belong to the Lower
Dauphin 4-H Dairy Club, where
Heidi serves as president and Hol
ly serves as secretary. Linda and
Mike are both leaders of the club.
Harrison has been a member for
seven years.
The Millers live on a 257-acre
farm outside of Harrisburg, where
they raise 20 head of high-pedigree
Holstein heifers from the original
milking herd. Mike works for a
copier company in Harrisburg,
while Linda is employed as a med
ical assistant at a local doctor’s
office. The Millers grow com and
hay, and Mike markets the high
quality alfalfa and other hay he
raises to area farmers.
Mike is the third generation on
the farm, where they milked SO
cows up until March 1998 when
the Millers sold their cows. Mike’s
grandfather Harrison started the
farm in the late 50’s before being
killed in a farming accident when
Mike was 2 years old. Mike’s
father Paul is a retired dairy cow
classifier who sells dairy minerals
and still helps out on the farm
when he can.
Farm Bureau Delegates Vote
To Support Sound Science
GLENMONT, N.Y. At their
stale annual meeting earlier this
month in Albany, New York Farm
Bureau delegates passed a resolu
tion to continue their strong sup
port for the Regulatory Openness
and Fairness Act of 1999 (H.R.
1592 and S. 1464).
This legislation was introduced
to protect farmers and consumers,
by requiring the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to abide
by sound science and real world
data when evaluating pesticides,
the true intention of the Food
Quality Proetction Act of 1996
(FQPA).
“Our board of directors made
this issue a priority for the upcom
ing year,” said Patrick Hooka-,
director of governmental relations
for New York Farm Bureau. “We
support this legislation and the
Harrison, seen herewith two of the Miller’s four Boxers—
Max and Maggie, is his father’s right hand man on the farm.
true intention of the FQPA.”
The recently released results
from a Harvard University analy
sis revealed that unprecedented
impacts of EPA’s proposed FQPA
rules could be more harmful to
public health than the compounds
they attempt to regulate. Accord
ing to the Harvard study, the EPA
has failed to consider or evaluate
many health risks associated with
the Agency’s implementation of
the FQPA. As an example, a ban
on all organophosphate and carba
mate pesticides could actually re
sult in the premature deaths of
1,000 Americans every year.
The EPA has also failed to con
sider possible dietary changes due
to higher crop prices, once the use
of certain compounds are cancel
ed. “Many of our Congressional
members agree that EPA must do
a better job of carrying out the na
tion’s laws regarding food safety,”
said Hooker. “The Harvard report
clearly shows that urging EPA to
change the way they propose to
regulate pesticides, is the right
thing to do. The congressional
support for this new legislation
helps to prove it”
The Regulatory Openness &
Fairness Act of 1999 has sponsor
ship of nearly 200 in the House
and nearly 30 co-sponsors in the
Senate.