Easy Yoke Farm
Carrot Harvest
All in the Family Farm
By Greg Lovell
With five children and a full time produce farm, Daniel and Hannah Miller know the value of hard work and family. For them, work and family overlap every day.
The Millers are the owners and operators of Easy Yoke Farm located 20 miles northeast of Rochester in Zumbro Falls, Minnesota. Easy Yoke produces a wide range of organic vegetables and some fruit, all of which is available for sale at The People’s Food Co-op in Rochester and the Rochester Farmers Market.
“Our general vision is to steward the land well, to grow healthy food to feed our neighbors, and to raise our family working together in a place of beauty at a pace that we can sustain long term,” said Hannah.
Indeed, this mix of family and farming has helped the Millers provide delicious produce to the Rochester area for over a decade.
Working the Fields Together
Daniel grew up in Minnesota, but Hannah is a South Carolina transplant who moved to Minnesota to work on her sister and brother-in-law’s farm in 2009.
The couple met that summer and began seeing each other, with Hannah deciding to stick around Minnesota one year longer than she initially planned. Soon thereafter, Daniel proposed–in Hannah’s picturesque flower garden nonetheless–and the wheels for Easy Yoke Farm were set in motion.
After getting married, Daniel and Hannah bought the property coincidentally located next to her sister and brother-in-law.
“Those first few years were kind of wild,” recalled Hannhah. “We farmed with draft horses and got a few animals, even though we didn’t know what we were doing.”
Yet, both Hannah and Daniel had some prior experience farming, so they weren’t entirely new to the farming game. They soon shifted their focus to produce.
“We saw vegetable farming as an amazing opportunity to support a family and work together,” said Daniel.
In fact, Easy Yoke no longer needs outside employees as they have one big advantage: kids!
“Daniel and I and our five children all pitch in to get the work done,” said Hannah. “Everyone does a little of everything.”
A Way of Life
Daniel says the lifestyle is what they love most about Easy Yoke Farm.
“Being able to work together as a family makes the work very meaningful and fun–most days!” said Daniel with a laugh.
Hannah agrees, saying more time together as a family out in the sunshine and fresh air is a huge benefit.
“Kids love to work,” said Hannah. “They are so proud and pleased to be involved in something tangible and meaningful. Our farm has been a place to give that opportunity to them.”
Easy Yoke farm and surrounding area
The Power of Community
Looking ahead, Daniel says they hope to inspire others along the way as they continue to plant and harvest the fields of Easy Yoke Farm.
“Our hope for the farm is that it will inspire our children and other friends to start their own farms. We would like to see more people buying local produce.”
Indeed, the community has shaped the Miller’s lives and even Easy Yoke Farm itself.
After a fire burned down one of their main buildings, the surrounding community rallied to help them rebuild and continue produce farming. Within one year, the structure was rebuilt better than ever.
“It was a humble thing, and also very encouraging, to see how strong that community can be when we had a need,” said Hannah.
In many ways, the Millers are helping produce the future of a community they’ve been a part of for years.
“Selling at the market and at the Co-op is a very intimate community where you really get to know the people who buy your vegetables.”
This article is also available to read in our Summer 2025 edition of The Garlic Press!