By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common’Tater
Like a beacon or badge of honor, the sign at the intersection of Beechnut Drive and 4th Avenue in Hancock, Wisconsin, points the way to Paul Miller Farms and reads, “In 2022, this farm produced 7,241 tons of potatoes, 17,530 tons of carrots, 5,217 tons of sweet corn, 2,267 tons of snap beans, and 578 tons of peas for the world.”
There’s another sign a short distance away on Beechnut announcing one’s arrival at Gramma Miller’s Farm Market, open May-October, where the Miller family sells fresh produce and flowers in season, and other goods. A four-acre field is dedicated to specialty crops for the farm market.
Combined with the “Paul Miller Farms” sign, the multi-generational potato and vegetable growing operation is a welcoming place and one with a storied history in the Central Sands area of the state.
The farm’s namesake, Paul Miller, was inducted into the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association Hall of Fame in 2021-’22 and has been active in the industry for nearly 60 years.
Paul was a field supervisor for the Green Giant Company in Arkansas and Oklahoma before leaving, in 1967, to become farm manager for Badger Growers, a 1,000-acre green bean and sweet corn operation located in Hancock at the time.
