103 historic farm families presented Hoosier Homestead

INDIANA — Recognized for their families’ longstanding commitment to agriculture, 103 Indiana farm families were presented the Hoosier Homestead Award at the Indiana State Fair from Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb.

“The Hoosier Homestead ceremony at the Indiana State Fair is a prestigious event for all involved,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Celebrating these families for their work and commitment to bettering 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 something these families can take great pride in,” Lamb said. “Each of the awarded family farms continues to adapt and evolve through each new generation on the farm to ensure their success.”

Since the program’s inception in 1976, nearly 6,200 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, six Indiana farms received the Bicentennial Award for 200 years of continuous ownership: the Thornburg-Caldwell-Slack family from Fayette County, the Hodges family from Morgan County, the Bridges-Royer family from Putnam County, the Dale & Donna Hartwell and Ricky W. Hartwell family from Rush County, the Bass-Rhodes family from Shelby County and the James W. Holmes, Jeffrey W. Holmes, Jason M. Davidson family from Tippecanoe County.

The following list includes the August 2024 Hoosier Homestead Award recipients.

CountyAward NameAward YearAward Type
AdamsBohnke1897Centennial
AdamsGirod1906Centennial
AdamsKent L. Steiner1890Centennial
AllenDafforn1874Sesquicentennial
BartholomewSchroer1886Centennial
BentonPitts1880Centennial
BentonPitts1911Centennial
BlackfordSchwarzkopf1872Sesquicentennial
BlackfordAlbert LeRoy Stallsmith1904Centennial
CarrollBoyer-Garrigues1923Centennial
CarrollGeorge & Lois Wallace1914Centennial
CassGeroge E. Ferguson1858Sesquicentennial  
CassVerBryck1895Centennial
ClayHofmann (Modesitt)1881Centennial
ClayHofmann (Unger)1865Centennial & Sesquicentennial
ClintonDean Walker1846Centennial & Sesquicentennial
DaviessDavid L. Brown1896Centennial
DaviessJoseph L. Disser1919Centennial
DaviessFuhrman1918Centennial
DearbornMurtaugh1855Sesquicentennial
DecaturManlief1873Sesquicentennial
DecaturCharles & Mary Torline1874Centennial & Sesquicentennial
DelawareAbshire1864Centennial & Sesquicentennial
DelawareC Clifford Green1874Sesquicentennial
DuboisBartelt-Peters1913Centennial
DuboisBockting1839Centennial & Sesquicentennial
DuboisMeyer1920Centennial
FayetteThornburg-Caldwell-Slack1824Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
FranklinKuntz1916Centennial
FranklinMiles Homestead Farms LLc1874Sesquicentennial
FranklinWessel1858Centennial & Sesquicentennial
FultonApplegate-Crippen-Rock1911Centennial
FultonHeater1874Sesquicentennial
FultonShewman1918Centennial
GrantGrindle1852Centennial & Sesquicentennial
GreeneRoudebush1918Centennial
HamiltonHonnold-Muir1902Centennial
HenryKirklin1874Centennial & Sesquicentennial
HowardDuncan Farm Legacy LLC 1864Centennial & Sesquicentennial
HowardJ & B Family Farms LLC (53 acre)1899Centennial
HowardJ & B Family Farms LLC (80 acre)1849Centennial & Sesquicentennial
HuntingtonPhilip Shafer1923Centennial
JacksonBell-Alwes-Mellencamp1918Centennial
JacksonClaycamp1869Centennial & Sesquicentennial
JacksonShoemaker1924Centennial
JasperGilmore-Brandenburg1895Centennial
JasperWilma Jean Lehe1922Centennial
JasperWalter1873Centennial & Sesquicentennial
KnoxBorgmeier1904Centennial
KosciuskoMessmore-Werstler1923Centennial
KosciuskoShock1866Centennial & Sesquicentennial
LaGrangeKoon-Barroquillo1918Centennial
MadisonHaines-Wood1854Centennial & Sesquicentennial
MadisonSears1924Centennial
MadisonThomas A. Tooley1913Centennial
MarshallStuntz / Bollenbacher1869Centennial & Sesquicentennial
MiamiBerglan1874Sesquicentennial
MiamiPeter Fisher-John H. Balsbaugh-Raymond E. Mussleman1837Centennial & Sesquicentennial
MiamiGahs1874Sesquicentennial
MiamiPatricia Hardwick & Shirley Kerns1855Sesquicentennial
MiamiKranz1874Sesquicentennial
MiamiShewman1869Centennial & Sesquicentennial
MontgomeryCowan1834Sesquicentennial
MorganHarmon & Nancy Crone1836Sesquicentennial
MorganHaase1905Centennial
MorganHodges (1840)1840Sesquicentennial
MorganHodges (1822)1822Bicentennial
NewtonRomine1874Sesquicentennial
NobleHarvey and Simon1862Centennial & Sesquicentennial
NobleZimmerman1919Centennial
PoseyPapenmeier1923Centennial
PulaskiBergdolt1899Centennial
PulaskiHeater1872Sesquicentennial
PutnamBridges-Royer1823Bicentennial
RipleyDrockelman1860Sesquicentennial
RipleyMiller1910Centennial
RipleyShorten-Volz-Miller1917Centennial
RipleySmith1868Centennial & Sesquicentennial
RipleyWilson1923Centennial
RushGray-Eakin1835Centennial & Sesquicentennial
RushDale & Donna Hartwell and Ricky W. Hartwell1821Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
ShelbyBass-Rhodes1823Centennial & Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
ShelbyKolkmeier1905Centennial
SteubenLibey1920Centennial
SteubenLevi Pocock1868Sesquicentennial
St JosephMichalski1887Centennial
SullivanShields1894Centennial
TippecanoeJames W. Holmes, Jeffrey W. Holmes, Jason M. Davidson (Davidson)1824Bicentennial
TippecanoeInskeep-McDole; Gilbert-Dilley; Tishler-Diem1877Centennial
TiptonMeyncke1924Centennial
UnionGreenmeadow Farm Inc-Caldwell1923Centennial
VanderburghFriedrich Schaefer1869Sesquicentennial
VigoChickadaunce1913Centennial
WabashDaihl1873Centennial & Sesquicentennial
WabashKirtlan1924Centennial
WabashSchuler1920Centennial
WarrenGeorge K Kerner1872Sesquicentennial
WarrickZint1902Centennial
WayneF. Park Ammerman1919Centennial
WellsPrice1919Centennial
WhiteDiemer1895Centennial
WhiteGeorge B. Kilmer1916Centennial
WhiteOtto Vieregge1915Centennial
ISDA

For more information about the Hoosier Homestead Award program, please visit isda.in.gov. Photos from the ceremony are available here.