(BELDEN, NE) Jan Miller received the 2011 "AG-ceptional Woman of the Year" award at Northeast Community College this winter as part of the 3rd annual AG-ceptional Women's Conference. She won because of her dedication to the family hog operation in Belden, Nebraska.
Jan Miller is no stranger to a farrowing barn.
"Jim and I have been married 31 years this past November so been involved with the pigs on a daily basis since then," says Jan Miller.
She started with just 8 sows and now rotates through 30.
"We have 4 groups of sows. So about every 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days you have a new group of piglets coming in. That's a gestation period for a sow," says Miller.
Every 4 weeks, a new litter is born. That means about 2,800 pigs go through the barns every year.
The farrowing room is about 75 degrees but these 24-hour-old piglets spend most of their time under a 90-degree heat lamp, to keep them warm during the first three weeks of life.
"Mostly you look for the ones that aren't up and nursing right away and help them get going to find a tit on the mama and get going good," says Miller.
But Jan doesn't just stay busy inside the barns. She and Jim are involved at the state and national levels.
"Kind of saw that there was a need, if you're going to produce a commodity, that you also need to promote and be active in the legislative end of what's going on in that commodity," says Miller.
Jan is the 2nd vice president of the Nebraska Pork Producers and on the National Checkoff Board. She promotes pork because she says it's healthy and full of flavor.
"Much more tasty product now when you cook it to just the 145, plus our pork loins are just as lean, if not leaner, than a boneless chicken breast," says Miller.
And everything she does on a national scale comes back home to the farm because that's what keeps her going.
"Knowing every morning that something's going to be different out here. It's not the same routine every day," says Miller.
But it's a job that requires dedication - 365 days a year - and that's why Jan is the 2011 "AG-ceptional Woman of the Year".
Jan hopes her sons will continue the operation. The family is looking into adding more hogs to accommodate the next generation.
Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com to nominate someone who's Proud to be a Hometown Farmer. The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded this series 1st place Farm & Agribusiness in 2010.
