Local man to share trip of a lifetime

Joe Miller will be at the Dover Public Library on Monday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m. to present a program titled “Exporting Heifers to Morocco.” Miller will talk about his recent “trip of a lifetime” in which he accompanied nearly 1,800 heifers from all over the United States across the Atlantic Ocean to Taroudant, Morocco. Miller will share slides and stories about his journey.

The Andreas family began farming near Sugarcreek in 1881. In the 1950s they began milking cows, and over the years they have developed a herd with specific genetic qualities that guarantees milk of the highest quality.

In February 2020 Matt Andreas and his family made the decision to sell their herd of more than 1,000 head. Many of the cows were loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to other dairy farms in Minnesota and Iowa. Other cows were destined for a longer journey to Morocco.

Eighty heifers embarked on a journey, which took them across Pennsylvania to Wilmington, Delaware, where, after several weeks of quarantine, they and another 1,700 heifers from across the United States boarded a ship called the Holstein Express, bound for Africa.

Another important figure in this chapter of the story of Andreas Farms is Miller, an employee of Andreas Farms who was hired by the export company responsible for transporting the animals across the Atlantic Ocean.

Miller was in charge of making sure the animals were healthy enough to make the 10-day trans-Atlantic trip. He went to Pennsylvania and Maryland, where the animals were being quarantined, to take blood samples and to vaccinate them.

Miller said the ship designed to transport animals is equipped with a special purification system for transforming seawater into water that is consumed by the animals. Miller said the crew had to milk and feed all the heifers aboard the ship. The bedding also had to be changed daily. In addition to these daily concerns, three heifers had calves while aboard the ship.

Once the ship docked in Morocco, Miller stayed with the animals during the quarantine period before traveling another 100 miles to the dairy farm that would be their new home. While at the farm, Miller worked closely with the staff and was able to observe farming practices in that region.

Even though Miller had neither traveled outside the United States nor been on a ship, he said he was glad to have had the experience.

The program will be held in the community room at the Dover Public Library, 525 N. Walnut St., Dover. Call the library at 330-343-6123 to register for the program.