Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was joined by Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward to induct 41 farms into the Arkansas Century Farm Program, including several from southeast Arkansas.
The Century Farm Program recognizes Arkansas farms of 10 acres or more owned by the same family for at least 100 years.
Area honorees include:
Jefferson County: Fairview Farm (Est. 1918);
Jefferson and Lincoln counties: M.H. Bitely Partnership Farm (Est. 1914);
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Lincoln County: 100 Year Historic Crow Farm (Est. 1850);
Arkansas County: Sebree Farms, Inc. dba Fish Lake Planting Company (Est. 1919), Tommy Welch Farm (Est. 1907);
Desha County: Brian Chapman Farms (Est. 1915).
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture established the program in 2012 to highlight these families’ contributions to the agriculture industry and the state. The program is voluntary, and there is no cost for participating families.
Agriculture is the largest industry in Arkansas and contributes more than $24.3 billion to the state’s economy annually. Arkansas has 38,000 farms, and 95% are family owned.
“Our family farmers are the backbone of our state and that’s especially true for our Century Farm families,” Sanders said in a news release from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
“We often talk about farming in terms of economics, which is absolutely critical and very important considering it’s one of Arkansas’ largest industries. But the importance of farming goes much deeper than that. It’s part of our heritage. It’s part of our history and it’s part of our basic survival. Thank you for keeping our country fed, our state growing and our communities strong,” the release continued.
With the addition of the new inductees, there are 645 Arkansas Century Farms throughout the state.
“The Arkansas Century Farm Program exists to recognize and honor the Arkansas farm families that, for generations, have dedicated their lives to serving others and providing the food, fiber, fuel and shelter that we all depend on every single day of our lives,” Ward said.
The 41 newly inducted farms are in the following counties: Arkansas, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Clay, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Desha, Franklin, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Logan, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Ouachita, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Prairie, Pulaski, Searcy, Union, Van Buren and White.
A list of this year’s inductees can be found at https://agriculture.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-Century-Farm-Inductees.pdf.
Applications for the 2025 class of inductees will open in February 2025 and close in May 2025. More information on the program and previous inductees can be found on the department’s website at https://agriculture.arkansas.gov/arkansas-department-of-agriculture-services/arkansas-century-farm-program/.
In Desha County, the Brian Chapman Farms (Est. 1915) was among inductees into the Arkansas Century Farm Program on Nov. 7. (Special to The Commercial)