Several local farms earn Hoosier Homestead Award

(BROOKVILLE, Ind.) – More than a dozen local farm families are being recognized with the Hoosier Homestead Award. 

The award recognizes farms that have been owned by the same family for at least a century, consist of 20 acres or more, or produce more than $1,000 in agricultural products per year.

Based on the age of the farm, families are eligible for three different distinctions of the Hoosier Homestead Award. They can receive the Centennial Award for 100 years,

Sesquicentennial Award for 150 years or Bicentennial Award for 200 years of ownership.

During the ceremony, six Indiana farms received the Bicentennial Award for 200 years of continuous ownership. Two of those are in Southeast Indiana.

Here the local families who are being recognized for their commitment to agriculture in Indiana:

COUNTY	NAME	WHEN FARM STARTED	AWARD
Dearborn	Murtaugh	1855	Sesquicentennial
Decatur	Manlief	1873	Sesquicentennial
Decatur	Charles & Mary Torline	1874	Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Franklin	Kuntz	1916	Centennial
Franklin	Miles Homestead Farms LLc	1874	Sesquicentennial
Franklin	Wessel	1858	Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Ripley	Drockelman	1860	Sesquicentennial
Ripley	Miller	1910	Centennial
Ripley	Shorten-Volz-Miller	1917	Centennial
Ripley	Smith	1868	Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Ripley	Wilson	1923	Centennial
Rush	Dale & Donna Hartwell and Ricky W. Hartwell	1821	Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
Rush	Gray-Eakin	1835	Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Fayette	Thornburg-Caldwell-Slack	1824	Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial