01 Feb 2021 Eight farms in the 501 become Arkansas Century Farms

In December, Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward in inducting 30 additional farms into the Arkansas Century Farm Program.

The program recognizes farms of 10 or more acres owned by the same family for at least 100 years. The Century Farm program was established in 2012 to highlight the contributions of the families to the agriculture industry and to Arkansas.

Agriculture is Arkansas’ largest industry, annually contributing more than $21 billion to the state’s economy and providing more than 269,000 jobs, one of every six jobs in the state. Arkansas consistently ranks in the top 25 nationally in the production of more than 15 agricultural commodities.

“Year after year, decade after decade, and in the face of many challenges, Century Farm families go out and put everything on the line to earn a living and produce our food, our fabrics, our timber,” Hutchinson said. “Farm families are great for our economy, and they also are part of the fabric of our state. They imbue our state with the same common sense and solid values that are the bedrock of their family farm. For the good of Arkansas, I hope their children and grandchildren choose to continue the family farm, and that someday, Arkansas will create a “Two-Century Farm Family program.”

There are currently 494 farms recognized as Arkansas Century Farms. The 30 newly inducted Century Farms are located in 23 counties and eight of those are within the 11-county readership of 501 LIFE.