Monday at the Indiana Statehouse, Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb and Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) Director Ted McKinney presented 46 families with a Hoosier Homestead Award in recognition of their commitment to Indiana agriculture. “There are close to 60,000 farming operations in Indiana, of which 98 percent are still family owned and operated,” said Lt. Governor Holcomb, who also serves as Indiana Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “These families are a fundamental piece of the Indiana story, and I congratulate them on earning the Hoosier Homestead award and their unwavering commitment to both the past and future of 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 more than 20 acres or produce more than $1000 of agricultural products per year. The award distinctions recognized are Centennial (100 years), Sesquicentennial (150 years) and Bicentennial (200 years). Notably, the Bicentennial Award was presented to one family during Monday’s ceremony. “Our state’s legacy has been shaped by Indiana’s farming families, who have passed down their traditions from generation to generation and contributed so much over the past 200 years – both economically and socially,” Director McKinney said. “It was an honor to recognize nearly 50 of these great families at the Statehouse, and I commend all of them on their tremendous dedication to the industry and, especially, to Hoosiers.”
The families honored today join more than 5,000 Hoosier Homestead farms. Administered by ISDA, semiannual recognition ceremonies are held in March at the Indiana Statehouse and in August at the Indiana State Fair.
Below is a list of today’s Hoosier Homestead Award recipients:
Farm County | Award Name | Homestead Date | Type of Award |
Bartholomew | Schulz | 1865 | Sesquicentennial |
Benton | Sondgeroth | 1895 | Centennial |
Blackford | Maddox | 1902 | Centennial |
Carroll | Yerkes | 1914 | Centennial |
Carroll | Carl R. Jones | 1902 | Centennial |
Clark | Prall | 1895 | Centennial |
Clay | Mace Family | 1916 | Centennial |
Decatur | Fletcher | 1914 | Centennial |
Decatur | Fischmer | 1887 | Centennial |
Fayette | Francis M. & Hugh H. Scott | 1861 | Sesquicentennial |
Gibson | Steiner | 1904 | Centennial |
Grant | Kenneth & Bonnie Harrold | 1864 | Sesquicentennial |
Greene | Wolf | 1884 | Centennial |
Harrison | Roy & Denise Harmon | 1900 | Centennial |
Harrison | Harold & Penny Fessel | 1880 | Centennial |
Howard | Kring | 1915 | Centennial |
Howard | Countryman | 1908 | Centennial |
Jay | Floyd E. Cline | 1907 | Centennial |
Jay | Cline Farms | 1901 | Centennial |
Jay | The Hudson Family Farm | 1863 | Sesquicentennial |
Jay | Bailey | 1838 | Sesquicentennial |
Jay | Robert C. Lyons | 1850 | Sesquicentennial |
Johnson | Long | 1909 | Centennial |
LaGrange | Talmage | 1837 | Sesquicentennial |
LaGrange | Talmage | 1836 | Sesquicentennial |
Madison | Justice | 1834 | Sesquicentennial |
Martin | Klingle-Doty | 1888 | Centennial |
Montgomery | Harold & Debra Bowman | 1899 | Centennial |
Morgan | Swinehart | 1894 | Centennial |
Noble | Robinson-Miller Family | 1865 | Sesquicentennial |
Orange | Farlow-Trimble-Haworth | 1811 | Sesquicentennial |
Orange | Farlow-Trimble-Haworth | 1811 | Bicentennial |
Parke | Floyd/Wrightsman | 1865 | Sesquicentennial |
Pike | Risley | 1865 | Sesquicentennial |
Pulaski | John S. Capper | 1915 | Centennial |
Pulaski | Tiede | 1877 | Centennial |
Putnam | Gene Clodfelter | 1916 | Centennial |
Ripley | Narwold | 1866 | Sesquicentennial |
Scott | Philip A. Murphy | 1865 | Sesquicentennial |
Spencer | Kathryn Meyer | 1908 | Centennial |
Switzerland | Pavy, Lewis, & Keith | 1881 | Centennial |
Wabash | Dan Schuler | 1911 | Centennial |
Wabash | Phillip Smith | 1849 | Sesquicentennial |
Washington | Jack C. Morgan | 1835 | Sesquicentennial |
Wells | Brannum/Sinclair | 1886 | Centennial |
Wells | Maddox | 1845 | Sesquicentennial |
White | Ronald D. Coonrod | 1857 | Sesquicentennial |
White | Gurson Cosgray | 1916 | Centennial |
Whitley | Beard | 1912 | Centennial |