Valley farms among 103 honored at State Fair

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INDIANAPOLIS – Recognized for their families’ longstanding commitment to agriculture, 103 Indiana family farms were presented the Hoosier Homestead Award at the Indiana State Fair from Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb.

“The Hoosier Homestead ceremony is always a highlight of the Indiana State Fair for me,” said Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Celebrating these longstanding farming families and their ancestors for their work and commitment to our state and Indiana agriculture is a true honor.”

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, 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.

“Keeping a farm operational for 100 years or more is no simple task,” Lamb said. “Each passing generation has certainly had to adapt and evolve their farming practices and techniques to ensure their farms continued success.”

Since the program’s inception in 1976, over 6,100 families have received the award. Often, a Hoosier Homestead farm is easily recognized because most recipients proudly display their awarded sign on their property.

During the ceremonies, three Indiana farms received the Bicentennial Award for 200 years of continuous ownership: the Craig / Day family from Lawrence County, the Harry Goss Dow & Bessie M. Dow family from Morgan County and the Wise/Hobbs family from Madison County.

The following list includes the August 2023 Hoosier Homestead Award recipients.

County Award Name Award Year Award Type
Adams Kenneth Schueler 1917 Centennial
Bartholomew Johnson-Bey 1900 Centennial
Carroll McCain 1858 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Cass Steinberger Frushour Kruck 1909 Centennial
Clay Fogel 1879 Centennial
Clay Lyon 1866 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Clay Hofmann (Jeffers Barn) 1867 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Clay Hofmann (Jeffers House) 1867 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Clay Forest A. and Dorothy M. Keiser 1879 Centennial
Clinton F.W. Clark Farm, LLC 1834 Sesquicentennial
Daviess Dove 1888 Centennial
Daviess Graham 1841 Sesquicentennial
Daviess Paul J. & Mary J. Ryan 1861 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Dearborn Graf-Lingg 1847 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Dearborn Lutz 1923 Centennial
Dearborn Stone 1908 Centennial
Decatur Henry Cooper 1923 Centennial
Delaware Maitlen 1837 Sesquicentennial
Dubois Ring 1857 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Dubois Lange / Wendholt 1922 Centennial
Dubois Mann 1873 Sesquicentennial
Dubois Jochem 1847 Sesquicentennial
Elkhart Blue-Moser-Pergrem-Geiger 1847 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Fayette Vaughn 1890 Centennial
Fountain Basinger 1918 Centennial
Franklin Miles 1905 Centennial
Franklin Thompson 1854 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Franklin Bulmer 1916 Centennial
Franklin Meier-Bachus 1889 Centennial
Greene Ball 1845 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Hamilton Hancock 1904 Centennial
Hamilton O’Bryhim 1835 Sesquicentennial
Hancock Snodgrass 1864 Sesquicentennial
Harrison Glenn and Robert Franks 1923 Centennial
Harrison Schoen / Cunningham 1919 Centennial
Harrison Yeager 1873 Sesquicentennial
Hendricks Walton 1918 Centennial
Henry Reddington 1902 Centennial
Henry Hernly 1844 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Huntington Schoeff 1910 Centennial
Jackson Thomas L. & Ruth A. Hackman 1910 Centennial
Jackson Hazard Homeplace 1886 Centennial
Jackson Hazard Homeplace West 1886 Centennial
Johnson Wild-Henry 1896 Centennial
Kosciusko Kolberg 1899 Centennial
Kosciusko Jacob Bucher 1923 Centennial
LaGrange Wisler 1872 Sesquicentennial
LaPorte Kovas 1920 Centennial
LaPorte Mrozinski 1881 Centennial
LaPorte Fischer 1923 Centennial
Lawrence Craig / Day 1823 Bicentennial
Lawrence Stipp 1923 Centennial
Lawrence Beal 1923 Centennial
Madison Wise / Hobbs 1823 Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
Madison McClintick, Carpenter, Bracken 1916 Centennial
Madison Ned A. Craig 1923 Centennial
Madison Jarman 1918 Centennial
Montgomery Coltrain/McNabb 1840 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Montgomery McBee 1873 Sesquicentennial
Morgan Harry Goss Dow & Bessie M. Dow 1823 Bicentennial
Morgan Fulford, Jackson, Neal 1900 Centennial
Morgan Parker 1919 Centennial
Morgan Joanne’s Family Farm 1865 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Morgan Hodges 1894 Centennial
Morgan Hodges 1912 Centennial
Parke Coleman 1824 Sesquicentennial
Pulaski McKinney 1918 Centennial
Pulaski Knarr 1873 Sesquicentennial
Putnam Rissler 1829 Sesquicentennial
Putnam Hubert L. McGaughey 1916 Centennial
Randolph Edwards 1887 Centennial
Ripley Ahrens 1873 Sesquicentennial
Ripley Bergman/Engle 1923 Centennial
Ripley McNeelan 1863 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Rush Richardson 1922 Centennial
Shelby Boring 1852 Sesquicentennial
Shelby King 1917 Centennial
Shelby Peter J. Lux 1916 Centennial
Shelby John Lux 1880 Centennial
Shelby Clark – Lux 1879 Centennial
Shelby M & N Suits Farms 1923 Centennial
St. Joseph Reed 1853 Sesquicentennial
Starke Stark 1916 Centennial
Starke Marks 1911 Centennial
Sullivan Ballentine 1839 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Sullivan Ballentine 1889 Centennial
Tipton Off 1864 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Tipton Smith-Fettig 1837 Centennial
Tipton Darrow-Fettig 1840 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Wabash Descendants of Edward & Ethel (Cripe) Rautenkranz 1920 Centennial
Warrick Kohlmeyer 1923 Centennial
Warrick Philip & Debbie (Rauth) Springstun 1871 Sesquicentennial
Warrick Ingram 1848 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Washington Temple 1889 Centennial
Wayne Kinsinger Farms Inc. 1923 Centennial
Wayne Myers 1920 Centennial
Wells Augustus Reynolds 1902 Centennial
Wells Captain 1900 Centennial
Wells Graham 1873 Sesquicentennial
Wells Meyer 1910 Centennial
White Habben 1881 Centennial
White Jacob Booher – Philip Booher 1873 Sesquicentennial
Whitley Michael D. & Cathy A. Schrader 1872 Sesquicentennial

For more information about the Hoosier Homestead Award program, please visit isda.in.gov. Photos from the ceremony are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/isda_gov/albums/72177720310559554