A group of Moniteau County Century Farm families were recognized at the MU Extension's Morgan County Extension Council Family Night Monday evening in Stover. They were joined by four farm families from Morgan County that were also recognized.
Farms that were supposed to be recognized during the Extension's 2020 program joined with the new additions for 2021 to comprise the final group of honorees. Two of the six Century Farms recognized - the farm of Albert Wesley and Miranda Lyn Bolinger, of California, originally founded in 1917, and Tipton's Sun-Rise Farms, originally founded in 1851 - were able to attend and shared brief words of thanks and some family history with the other guests in attendance.
The remainder of the group that wasn't present was still recognized on the night. That included the farm of Ulrich and Sophia Bieri, founded in 1919; two farms operated by Harold Knipp, founded in 1917 and 1866, respectively; the farm of Henry C. Hill, founded in 1854; and the Fain Family Farm, founded in 1860.
A pair of Bicentennial farms from the county were also recognized - Jamestown's Clay Farms, founded in 1816, and Valley View Farm, which has been around since the 1800s. The pair is part of a group of 30 Bicentennial farms that have been recognized across the state in conjunction with Missouri's recent Bicentennial anniversary.
The Centennial Farm project was initiated in Missouri in 1976, awarding certificates to those who had owned farms that had remained in the same family for 100 years or longer. Ten years later, the MU Extension and MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources created its annual Century Farm program and recognition; the Missouri Farm Bureau joined as a co-sponsor in 2008. Since 1976, more than 8,000 Missouri farms have received a Century Farm designation.