Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is reminding eligible farm owners that the deadline to apply for the 2016 Century and Heritage Farm Program is June 1st, 2016.  The program recognizes families that have owned their farm for 100 years in the case of Century Farms and 150 years for Heritage Farms. Northey said  “This program is a great way to highlight the deep history and strong heritage of agriculture in our state.”

Farm families with a century or heritage farm must submit an application to the Department no later than June 1, 2016 to qualify for recognition at the Iowa State Fair this year.

Applications are available on the Department’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov by clicking on the Century Farm or Heritage Farm link under “Hot Topics.”

Applications may also be requested from Becky Lorenz, Coordinator of the Century and Heritage Farm Program via phone at 515-281-3645, email at Becky.Lorenz@IowaAgriculture.gov or by writing to Century or Heritage Farms Program, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Henry A. Wallace Building, 502 E. 9^th St., Des Moines, IA 50319.

The program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.  The ceremony to recognize the 2016 Century and Heritage Farms is scheduled to be held at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, August 18^th in the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion.

This is the 40^th anniversary of the Century Farm program, which was started in 1976 as part of the Nation’s Bicentennial Celebration.  To date more than 18,600 farms from across the state have received this recognition.  The Heritage Farm program was started in 2006, on the 30^th anniversary of the Century Farm program, and 837 farms have been recognized.  Last year 366 Century Farms and 101 Heritage Farms were recognized.