5 Greene County Families to Be Given Century Farm Status at Ozark Empire Fair Event
07-22-2008Representatives from five Century Farms in Greene County will be honored at 3 p.m., Sunday, July 27 during a special ceremony at the Ozark Empire Fair in the East Hall of the E-Plex.
Family representatives from each of these six farms will be in attendance at the ceremony to accept their fence signs and certificates.
There will also be a display inside the E-Plex during the fair highlighting the history of Century Farms in Greene County. The display and ceremony is being made possible by University of Missouri Extension, the Greene County Extension Council, Greene County Commission and the Ozark Empire Fair.
By the end of August other Century Farms in southwest Missouri will be announced. These five new Greene County Century Farms will join the other 85 farms in Greene County that have been previously honored as Century Farms.
2008 HONORED GREENE COUNTY FARMS
The following five farms and families will be recognized during the special Century Farm event at the Ozark Empire Fair.
Carmen and Susan Wommack of Strafford will have 208 acres recognized as a Century Farm. This land was first acquired in 1856 by their great-great grandfather, William W. Wommack.
Frank and Helen Farmer of Walnut Grove own 40-acres that will be designated as a Century Farm. Their land was first farmed by their great-grandfather Joseph Renshaw in 1857.
Karl and Roberta Berry, Ash Grove, Mo., will be honored for their 40-acre farm. The land was acquired in 1875 by their great-grandfather William Berry. This is the first African-American owned Century Farm to be recognized in Greene County.
Dazel Thomas’s farm near Fair Grove was acquired in 1905 by Thomas’s grandfather Joseph Thomas. About 165-acres of this farm will be recognized. Three children are full-time farmers now. This family hopes to actually have five generations represented at the event.
Another Fair Grove area farm, owned by Elaine June Thomas, Janice Rae Thomas, and Rita Marie Thomas Mueller, will also be recognized. This 213 acre farm was established in 1905, also by Joseph Thomas.
HOW TO QUALIFY
When the Missouri Centennial Farm program was launched in 1976 there were 2,850 Missouri farm owners recognized. University of Missouri Extension renewed the Century Farm program in 1986 and since that time, nearly 3,000 more farms have been added to the program.
To qualify for the Missouri Century Farm designation, farms must have been family owned (direct descendants only) for 100 years or more and have at least 40 acres of the original land still making a financial contribution to the overall farm income.
To learn more about the Missouri Century Farm program call the Greene County Extension Center at 862-9284 or go online to http://extension.missouri.edu/centuryfarm.