WBIW.com News - local

Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana

Family Farms Receive Hoosier Homestead Award

Last updated on Sunday, August 12, 2018

(INDIANAPOLIS) - At the Indiana State Fair, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler honored 88 families with the Hoosier Homestead Award for their longstanding commitment to Indiana agriculture.

To be named a Hoosier Homestead, farms must be owned by the same family for more than 100 consecutive years, and consist of 20 acres or more in size or produce more than $1,000 in agricultural products per year.

"I want to congratulate all of the recipients of this prestigious award," said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana's Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. "Our state, economically and socially, depends on our farming families, and we owe a great deal to the work they do."

Families are eligible for three different distinctions of the Hoosier Homestead Award, based on age of the farm. They are Centennial (100 years), Sesquicentennial (150 years) and Bicentennial (200 years).

Since the program's inception in 1976, more than 5,500 families have received the award.

"Keeping any business in operation for more than 100 years is no small accomplishment, let alone in the same family," Kettler said. "There is something special about generational farming in Indiana, and it was an honor to recognize these families--their legacy--at the great Indiana State Fair."

The following list includes the 2018 summer Hoosier Homestead Award recipients:

Adams County

Kruetzman, 1891, Centennial

Allen County

Bradtmueller, 1902, Centennial
Yoder, 1918, Centennial

Bartholomew County

O'Neal, 1918, Centennial
Burbrink - Schroer, 1910, Centennial
Arnholt - Smith, 1890, Centennial
Reinking - Smith, 1856, Sesquicentennial

Brown County

Cass County

Clark County

Clay County

Clinton County

Crawford County

Dearborn County

Decatur County

DeKalb County

Dubois County

Franklin County

Fulton County

Hamilton County

Hancock County

Henry County

Kautz - Query, 1918, Centennial

Howard County

Jackson County

Jasper County

Jennings County

Johnson County

Kosciusko County

LaGrange County

LaPorte County

Lawrence County

Robert G. Stipp, 1849, Sesquicentennial

Madison County

Marshall County

Gottschalk, 1858, Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Sahlhoff, 1887, Centennial

Martin County

Montgomery County

Noble County

Ohio County

Orange County

Pulaski County

Randolph County

Jordan, 1834, Sesquicentennial

Ripley County

Rush County

Shelby County

Spencer County

Sullivan County

Tipton County

Union County

Wayne County

Wells County

White County

Families are recognized semiannually -- at the Indiana Statehouse in the spring and at the Indiana State Fair in the fall.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Click here to go back to previous page