Christi Bland-Miller reclaims her family’s farming legacy

A Profile by Aallyah Wright
Christi Bland-Miller’s story is one of many being told by journalist Aallyah Wright, whose own Delta roots shape how she reports on people like Christi and the legacies they’re building. Read more about Aallyah Wright.

Christi Bland-Miller didn’t see farming as a viable career path, even though she grew up on a farm in the rural Mississippi Delta.

As a child, she worked alongside her father, James Bland, growing soybeans on the very land they called home in Tunica County. Many of the women in her family had other jobs, only assisting the men on the farm. 

She left after high school, chasing dreams of being a basketball star and majoring in Chemistry at Mississippi College. 

“You do it growing up, but you don’t really consider that a profession,” she said.

She didn’t know that the land would call her back — not out of duty, but out of something deeper: a knowing or maybe a calling.

It began with a conversation with one of her professors. He asked her questions about her family’s  land — how many acres? She recalled that she didn’t know the details. This line of questioning prompted her to reflect on the quality time she had spent with her father on the farm, not as a hobby, but as a legitimate profession. 

She went on to earn a master’s degree from Christian Brothers University. After graduating from college, she found herself back on the farm helping her father. In 2017, she started her own business, CMB Farm, where she focuses on growing rice. She has come to enjoy the independence of being an entrepreneur and seeing the rewards of her work.

“When you’re in certain jobs … It’s not necessarily a passion or a calling sometimes, and I like that [as a farmer] you feel passionate about what you’re doing,” she said. “I don’t think you’ll meet a farmer who doesn’t love what they do, even despite all of the craziness and all of the variables you can’t control — like the weather and right now tariffs.”

Now, the 37-year-old fourth generation farmer is changing the perception of what it means to be a farmer. She wears many hats: mother, wife, and businesswoman yet she dedicates time to serve on boards — like the National Black Growers Council — and educate the community about where their food comes from through their farm to table events. In 2021, she was named one of America’s best farmers.

Bland-Miller’s story is one of hope, especially given the decline in land ownership and farming due to discrimination, limited funding opportunities and access to credit. She is one of few women farmers in Mississippi and represents one of the 6,200 Black farmers in the state, which is about 12% of the state’s total producers, according to the Census of Agriculture. 

In contrast, Black farmers account for less than 1.2% nationwide. 

With tariffs and the loss of critical federal funding, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult for Black farmers like Bland-Miller to thrive. Despite the challenges, she’s undeterred while working to support a new generation of farmers. 

Supporting the next generation of farmers

Not only does Bland-Miller work with her family — father, uncles, and cousins — she’s also continuing the legacy with her husband, Robert Miller II, and their children. They own 600 acres, but farm about 2,000 acres of land across four Delta counties. 

Some days, she works from her home while juggling her twins. Other times, she is on the tractor. Support from her family has been key to her success and keeping the farm alive. Being homegrown for Bland-Miller means growing wherever life takes you — but she’s especially blessed to do it surrounded by family, on land her people have passed down for over a century.

In addition to protecting her own ancestral legacy, she urges older farmers who own land to incorporate their children into their succession plans as they retire or transition out of farming. She also encourages young people, especially young women, to seek out mentors if they are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture. Whether it’s agronomist or economist, there are other roles in agriculture that are profitable. It’s one of the reasons for their recent farm to table series, where youth and adults visit their farm to eat fresh foods and engage in the history.

“Some of those kids grow up right there in Coahoma County … and they are surrounded by farmland, but they haven’t really been on the farm,” she said. “It’s just so rewarding to be able to answer questions for them and potentially plant a seed.”