CECIL COUNTY, Md. — The cows are living their best lives at this farm, they're milked twice a day at 4 a.m. and again at three, their sleeping spaces spruced and they graze on the favorite grain.
"We kind of joke and say the cows live a better life than we do, very spoiled and pampered," Wes Miller said.
Nobody knows more about the cow's life than Wes. He's a 6th generation farmer in North East. His family has owned Chesapeake Gold Farms for decades in Cecil County.
It's a life Wes has wanted since he was growing up in his dads shadow at five.
"He walks in about 5:00 and he's shaking the bed and he says are you getting up today or not, and I said yeah I guess. He said I got the cows in, the power is all set up but I can't swing the pipe over to tank. If you come down and do that, I'll milk for you," Wes said.
Bob Miller says all three of his boys play a role on the farm with Wes leading the herd.
"Being able to be outside every day, having my family with me all the time. There's always something different going on. Some people don't appreciate the challenges but we always like trying to do things better," Bob said.
But sometimes those challenges are harder than others like competing with big business and staying afloat in a struggling economy.
Wes graduated from Penn State with a degree in Animal Science, he learned you have to be creative to stay competitive.
His family found a way to use their medium size farm to put their 200 cows to work in a different way.
Through the Maryland Department of Agriculture, they're partnered with Miss Shirley's Cafe.
"In 2015 we started doing direct to consumer with the dairy. It started with the cheese. I think we've had eight different cheddars and colby's. We now have over 25 different flavors of cheese, yogurt, butter, milk, freezer beef," Wes said.
Their cheese is in a few of the cafe's signature items, the crabby grilled cheese, and the Maryland omelette. The grilled cheese won the People's Choice Award last year at the Governor's Buy Local Cookout. The Millers say the partnership has been incredible.
It's not just the cows bringing in the bacon so to speak, the Miller's are using these 850 acres to reach new markets.
Wes's wife Amanda grows and sells all kinds of flowers at local farmers markets.
And then there's the 70,000 small bails of hay and straw that they grow and sell.
"Between value added, and the hay and straw, that's what's keeping us going," Amanda said.
With the future looking brighter for this family owned farm, the next generation is already in training.
"Our first daughter is six months old, we could put her in daycare, we want her to be around it."
The hope, little Lila will enjoy farming as much as the others and keep the family tradition moving forward.
"She's helped cut flowers, she rode along with the corn planter this spring, no better life than growing up on a farm."
