Last week at the Iowa State Fair, 398 farm families were honored with the Century or Heritage Farm designation from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. The program celebrates farms that have been in the same family for 100 and 150 years, respectively.

For this year’s Century Farms, recognition went to Patrick and Maryann Bell of Keota, Paula Brinning of Keota, Ross Farm of Keota, Leonard Dale Schantz of Crawfordsville, Klopfenstein Farms LLC of Mt. Pleasant, Marc and Maureen Lindeen of Mt. Pleasant, Schelkopf Family Farm of Mt. Pleasant, Martha J. Ryan Young of Wapello, and Richard and Donna Swartzendruber of Wellman.

Honored for Heritage Farms this year were Sid Brooks of Mt. Pleasant, Keith Hora of Riverside, Scott and Bobbie Swan of Mt. Pleasant, Dennis and Bev Schenk of Mt. Union, Steven Bonnichsen of Columbus Junction, Martha J. Ryan Young of Wapello, and Richard and Donna Swartzendruber of Wellman.

The Century Farm program began in 1976 as part of the Nation’s Bicentennial Celebration, while the Heritage Farm Program began in 2006. To date, more than 21,000 Century Farms and 1,800 Heritage Farms have been recognized across Iowa. To view eligibility requirements and application forms for both programs, as well as a database of all Century and Heritage Farms, click here.