Daily Reporter staff reports
HANCOCK COUNTY — The Raesner-Wood Family Farm recently was recognized with a Hoosier Homestead award for 100 years of family farm ownership, according to Indiana Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville.
Located in Hancock County, the farm has been in operation since 1916. The farm received the Hoosier Homestead centennial award during a ceremony at the Indiana State Fair, according to a news release.
“Indiana’s agriculture industry brings more than $44 billion and 190,000 jobs to the state,” Eberhart said. “The Raesner-Wood Farm made a significant investment in Indiana and has kept the tradition of family farms alive for a century. This is a great honor deserving of recognition.”
The Hoosier Homestead Award Program recognizes farms that have been owned and maintained by the same family for 100 years or longer.
Two award ceremonies are conducted each year, in the spring and the summer, to commemorate the achievements of farmers across the state.
At the state fair, the program recognized a record 92 farms for their commitment to agriculture, according to a news release. Farm families across Indiana were recognized with centennial awards — that’s for 100 years of farming — and sesquicentennial awards, for 150 years of farming, according to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.
The Hoosier Homestead program was instituted in 1976 and recognizes the contributions these family farms have made to the economic, cultural and social advancements of Indiana. In the past 30 years, more than 5,000 farms have received the honor, according to the ISDA website.
