Families honored for owning farms for 150 years
By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 06/03/2010 9:22 AM
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NEW ULM, Minn. — A short drive from downtown New Ulm and you're there: The farm the Holm family has owned for more than 150 years.
Charles Holm became the fifth generation to work the land when he and his wife, Lauretta, bought a portion of his parents' farm in 1957 and moved their growing family there.
Today, Charles and Lauretta live in town. Their son, Tom, and his wife, Betsy, live on the farm, in the home that was built in 1923. The land is rented for crop production.
Not many farms stay in the same family so long, noted Charles.
Their farm is one of 14 in the state this year being honored by Minnesota Farm Bureau as a Sesquicentennial Farm, meaning it's been owned by the same family for at least 150 years. The farms also have to have at least 50 acres and still be used for agricultural production.
Sesquicentennial Farms were first honored in the state in 2008, the year Minnesota reached 150 years of statehood. Since then, a total of 130 farms have received the distinction.
The new honorees will receive a certificate signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty, Commissioner of Agriculture Gene Hugoson and Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap. They'll also get an outdoor sign that says they are a Sesquicentennial Farm.
"It's an honor," said Charles.