ST. CLOUD -- Seventy-eight Minnesota farms, including some with histories dating back to the 1870s and 80s, will be honored as "Century Farms" at the State Fair by the Minnesota Farm Bureau this year.

Rachael Peterson with the Minnesota Farm Bureau says the farms will play a special role in keeping the history of Minnesota agriculture alive.

I get a lot of phone calls from those who are working on their applications. And it is really cool to hear from them about what they learn about their family farms as they are doing this process.

Century Farms must be in continuous family ownership for 100 years or more and be at least 50 acres in size.

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Peterson says the rest of us really get to reap the benefits of these Century Farm owners taking part in the program.

It is just really cool for people to go back and look through their history, their family records, to really know where their family farms came from and how they got to where they are today.

Twelve of the 78 honorees this year date back to the late 1800s. The oldest farm honored this year is the Bell Farm, in Mower County, which has single family ownership stretching back to 1859.

Local farms being honored this years include:

Stearns County
Avon – Heitzman Farm, 1916
Freeport – Schulzetenberg Farm, 1916
Kimball – Greeley - Loewen Farm, 1919
Melrose – Rademacher, 1916

Morrison County
Hillman – Beack Dairy, 1916
Little Falls – The Welinski Family Farm, 1903
Pierz – Bill Pohlkamp Farm, 1920

Meeker County
Litchfield – Albright Family Farm, 1920

Details of the 2022 Century Farms will be shared as part of Farm Bureau Federation exhibits at this year's Minnesota State Fair.

The Minnesota News Network contributed to this story!

 

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