Some area families have been honored for the amount of time they’ve owned their farm.At this years State Fair a ceremony was held to recognize 345 Century Farms and 69 Heritage Farms.

In order for a family to qualify they need to have owned at least 40 acres for 100 years to be considered a Century and 150 years to be a Heritage Farm. This year Don and Twila Swartzendruber had their farm in Kalona identified as a Heritage Farm. Their farm has been in the family since 1855.

The program has recognized 17,486 Century Farms since it was started in 1976 by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. 583 Heritage Farms have been recognized since that program was started in 2006.

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