Hannah Miller’s passion for breeding and raising pigs began on her family’s show pig operation, but when she joined FFA as a freshman at Prairie Central FFA Chapter in Illinois, she decided to launch out on her own. Starting with a spot gilt she had already shown, Miller has now expanded her project from one to seven sows, producing around 60 pigs a year.
“The goal was to be able to expand differently from what my parents’ operation was, to really have a project that was solely my own,” she said.
Not only was Miller able to rapidly expand her breeding operation, but she increased her breeding conception rate from 66 percent to 100 percent, an impressive feat in the swine industry. Miller noted that a key part of this achievement was learning breeding and gestation care skills to ensure that her sows were consistently in the best of health.
“I’ve been able to learn different skills, such as my heat checking skills, really paying attention to all the signs when my sows and gilts are coming into heat and breeding them two times — if not three times — if they’re still in standing heat, and also just monitoring their health and well-being during gestation has been able to keep that conception rate up,” she said.
As a young entrepreneur, Miller faced the challenge of convincing customers that she had just as high-quality animals and genetics as other, more well-known breeders. However, by using tools such as social media and taking time to network with other breeders and customers, she was able to build a solid customer base and reputation as a high-quality breeder.
“A lot of it was just trying to get my name out there enough for people to recognize that I had a high-quality animal to sell to them, and now people are able to trust my genetics and want to come back and buy from me,” she said.
Miller’s operation also focused on youth engagement, both providing show pigs to 4-H and FFA members and working with the students on showmanship skills. One of the greatest highlights of her project was when she not only won Champion Tamworth Barrow at the Illinois State Fair, but a boy she had worked with and supplied a pig to won Reserve Champion Tamworth Barrow with a littermate of her champion pig.
“I think it was such a cool experience for me to be able to not only do good myself but then also to have one of my customers achieve a goal that they had,” she said.
Throughout her high school career, Miller has been heavily involved in FFA. She competed on around nine different Career Development Event (CDE) teams during her freshman year. In her sophomore year, she was a part of Prairie Central’s champion Dairy Evaluation and Management team at the 95th National FFA Convention in 2022, and Miller herself was the second highest-individual in the contest. The following year, at the 96th National FFA Convention, she was a part of the winning Agricultural Sales CDE team, scoring as the third highest individual in the contest. This past October, Miller competed at the 97th National Convention in the Milk Quality and Productions CDE, securing a place as the third-highest individual.
All of her hard work with her operation and involvement with FFA led to her greatest achievement yet, the 2024 Swine Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency Award.
“At Prairie Central FFA, we’re a very competitive chapter, and all four of our advisors push us to the level that they know we can succeed at, and with their coaching and knowledge, they just have so much they’re able to help us with to get us to the highest level,” she said.
Looking back on her time in FFA, Miller has learned so many skills, made so many connections, and taken advantage of so many opportunities to lead her to where she’s at today.
“FFA has not only led to me to so many great experiences, so many great goals and awards that I’ve been able to accomplish, but I’ve also been able to get out of my shell and learn so many leadership skills,” she said.
Currently a senior at Prairie Central High School, Miller plans to attend college and study animal science with a minor in agribusiness, with plans to expand her swine operation in the future.
“I really love work working with the youth, so it’s definitely not a project that I’m going to give up because I’m able to not only sell 4-H and FFA members a pig, but I’m also able to work with them and see them succeed in the industry and chase their goals,” she said. “So it’s definitely a project I plan to keep going on, and I definitely see it in my future no matter what I do with my life.”
Kate Walker is a student at Georgia College and State University. Originally from Watkinsville, Georgia, she has a passion for writing and all things agriculture.
