TEUTOPOLIS, ILLINOIS, US — When offered an opportunity to share a day in the life of a wheat flour mill, Siemer Milling Co. raised the curtain on its West Harrison, Indiana, US, mill for the makers of the television show “How America Works” with Mike Rowe. 

Siemer Milling, a family- and employee-owned company based in Teutopolis, Illinois, US, will be the backdrop of the Dec. 5 episode that airs at 8 p.m. EST on the FOX Business Channel. The show was filmed in June during harvest at Siemer’s mill in West Harrison, which grinds soft red winter wheat and where production is 10,000 cwts per day.

FOX describes the “How America Works” series as showcasing “the many individuals that work round the clock to keep our infrastructure in working order. Mike Rowe takes a deeper dive into everything from casinos to oil to airports,” — and in this episode, a flour mill situated in the heart of the US Midwest.

“I am really just quite amazed at the amount of response we’ve gotten in terms of getting people’s attention,” said Richard Siemer, president of Siemer Milling. “We’ve really gotten excited as it’s gone along because the show clearly has a big following.”

Not strictly about Siemer Milling or making flour specifically, Siemer said, the hourlong episode will share the experiences of mill employees and wheat suppliers as they do their jobs during one day. While Siemer described the episode as more a reality TV feel than a documentary, he said the company worked closely with the show’s producers to ensure accuracy.

“Most people in the country eat wheat flour every day, and almost none of them have any idea how flour is milled,” Siemer said. “This is not a tutorial in flour milling, of course, but a lot of people will have an opportunity to learn about something they are very connected to on a daily basis.”

Established in 1882, Siemer Milling has locations in Teutopolis, West Harrison and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, US. The company employs more than 170 people, purchases 25 million bushels of locally grown wheat annually and produces 750,000 tonnes of processed wheat products, including flour, wheat bran and wheat germ.

Siemer’s primary product is wheat flour milled to different specifications for the making of such foods as cookies, crackers, cakes, pretzels, batters and breadings, bread and biscuits.