Local Farmers Honored For Family Farms 100 Years +

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

Kruetzman

1891

Centennial

Allen

Bradtmueller

1902

Centennial

Allen

Yoder

1918

Centennial

Bartholomew

O'Neal

1918

Centennial

Bartholomew

Burbrink - Schroer

1910

Centennial

Bartholomew

Arnholt - Smith

1890

Centennial

Bartholomew

Reinking - Smith

1856

Sesquicentennial

Brown

Roark Brown County Family Farm

1910

Centennial

Cass

Cynthia Lynn (Smith) Beckom & Amanda Lynn Beckom

1844

Sesquicentennial

Cass

Green

1918

Centennial

Cass

Robert & Mary Apple Kitchel

1917

Centennial

Cass

McIntosh - McMillen

1868

Sesquicentennial

Clark

James A. Kruer

1893

Centennial

Clay

Groover

1867

Sesquicentennial

Clay

Schlegel

1886

Centennial

Clinton

Need Family Farms

1916

Centennial

Crawford

Perry Crecelius

1918

Centennial

Crawford

Crecelius

1918

Centennial

Daviess

Hunter - Nolan

1818

Bicentennial

Dearborn

Hartman

1918

Centennial

Decatur

Fry

1887

Centennial

Decatur

Jonathan C. & Sara A. Galbraith

1848

Sesquicentennial

DeKalb

Bowman & Bowman Farms, Inc.

1873

Centennial

DeKalb

Morr

1900

Centennial

DeKalb

Hines

1836

Sesquicentennial

DeKalb

Nelson Family LLC

1868

Sesquicentennial

Dubois

Victor A. Beckman

1849

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Dubois

Joshua J. Himsel

1887

Centennial

Dubois

Weisman

1866

Sesquicentennial

Franklin

Burk

1918

Centennial

Franklin

Obermeyer

1891

Centennial

Franklin

Siefert

1869

Centennial

Franklin

Stenger

1901

Centennial

Fulton

Kline - Wagoner

1876

Centennial

Hamilton

Flanders/Sheller Farms

1865

Sesquicentennial

Hamilton

Joseph Wheeler

1851

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Hamilton

Haughey

1882

Centennial

Hancock

Garst

1918

Centennial

Harrison

Chuck & Sandy Hess

1854

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Harrison

Deatrick/Lind

1915

Centennial

Henry

Kautz - Query

1918

Centennial

Howard

Eller

1905

Centennial

Howard

Fisher

1847

Sesquicentennial

Howard

E. Wesley Smith

1848

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Howard

Tarkington

1918

Centennial

Jackson

M & M Wischmeier

1915

Centennial

Jasper

Putt

1902

Centennial

Jasper

Guth/Waibel

1899

Centennial

Jennings

Graham

1815

Bicentennial

Jennings

Horstman

1878

Centennial

Johnson

William O. Canary

1898

Centennial

Kosciusko

Whetstone

1842

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

LaGrange

Robert Thompson

1885

Centennial

LaPorte

Hickory Grove Farm/Mohlke Family

1918

Centennial

LaPorte

Thomas

1918

Centennial

Lawrence

Robert G. Stipp

1849

Sesquicentennial

Madison

Ashton

1864

Sesquicentennial

Madison

James Steven Doty

1868

Sesquicentennial

Madison

Jarrell

1917

Centennial

Madison

Marshall & Margaret Gwinn Farm

1917

Centennial

Madison

Sandra S. Swindell -- W.H.S. Farm

1908

Centennial

Marshall

Gottschalk

1858

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Marshall

Sahlhoff

1887

Centennial

Martin

Billings

1918

Centennial

Montgomery

Moser Farm

1917

Centennial

Noble

Frank E. & Evelyn J. Evers

1854

Sesquicentennial

Noble

The Scheurich

1866

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Ohio

Dennis

1868

Sesquicentennial

Ohio

Sommer

1918

Centennial

Orange

David & Jessica Watts

1860

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Pulaski

Jarman

1901

Centennial

Randolph

Jordan

1834

Sesquicentennial

Ripley

Kegley

1865

Sesquicentennial

Ripley

Brunsman - Moster

1905

Centennial

Rush

Gray

1863

Sesquicentennial

Shelby

Weintraut

1891

Centennial

Spencer

Seger

1915

Centennial

Sullivan

Davis

1918

Centennial

Tipton

Achenbach

1918

Centennial

Union

Hawley - Brookbank

1865

Centennial & Sesquicentennial

Wayne

Alexander

1897

Centennial

Wayne

Martin

1909

Centennial

Wells

Minnich

1872

Centennial

Wells

Powell

1916

Centennial

Wells

David Werling

1916

Centennial

White

Lemming

1894

Centennial

White

Humphreys

1883

Centennial

White

Sheets

1918

Centennial

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