1971 til. . .

Ronald (Ronnie) and Thelma Mills both grew up on dairy farms, so cattle were the obvious choice for our small farm. But, because of our experiences, we knew we didn’t want to milk two times a day. Hence the choice of raising beef cattle.

Choosing Polled Herefords was an easy step. Ronnie’s Brother-in-law, Mervin Lee, worked for Col. E. Brooke Lee, a well known polled Hereford breeder.

We started with two bull calves. We knew they wouldn’t produce much, but the price was right for animals that we thought would be feeder calves. When it came time to castrate them, Mervin said one of the bull calves looked too good to castrate. That was the bull with which we started our herd. We showed him and finally added a cow to the operation.

She turned out to have nothing but bull calves and was hateful to boot.  Not having extra funds to add top-of-the-line cattle, we spent many years buying end-of-the-sale females and splurging on top AI Bulls.

We’ve come a long way in the past 30 some years. We’ve competed in local and statewide shows and produced top selling females and bulls at the state Celebrate Maryland Sale.

We’re still a small operation, and retirement has given Ronnie lots of time to spend with the cattle.  He and Kevin Stiles, who shows our cattle, keep our herd front and center from August through October each year.

The Maryland Hereford Association keeps us busy, as well, and the friends we made and continue to make through the cattle are very special to us.