Local historic family farms honored on National Agriculture Day
Ohio Department of Agriculture Director David T. Daniels honored the area’s oldest historic farm families from Clinton, Fayette, Highland and Ross counties at a ceremony at Creekview Barn in Leesburg, Tuesday.
The event fell on National Agriculture Day, a day of honoring the importance of agriculture in our everyday lives.
“Food and agriculture is Ohio’s number-one industry and is the basis for virtually everything in our lives. It meets our basic needs, it provides a market for food processing and manufacturing industries, it supports local industries and businesses,” said Daniels. “I’m glad to spend National Agriculture Day with these historic farm families because everything that agriculture provides us today started with them.”
During the ceremony, Daniels honored the Levo, Carey and Strafford families with resolutions from Governor John Kasich and Lt. Governor Mary Taylor for their outreach in educating local farm families about Ohio's Historic Family Farms program.
“These three families are out there talking with area people who might not otherwise learn about this historic program,” said Daniels. “But the bigger picture is, their efforts help keep agriculture at the forefront, which keeps our communities strong, our state strong and our nation strong.”
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Daniels also announced the addition of the Ohio Sesquicentennial Farm designation to the program. Ohio’s Historic Family Farms Program now has three levels of recognition: century, sesquicentennial and bicentennial.
Ohio’s Historic Family Farms program, which was originally named Ohio’s Century Farm program, began in 1993 with only a few hundred farms. Today there are nearly 1,300 registered farms across the state, with at least one registered in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
This is one of many events Daniels will participate in during Ohio Agriculture Week, March 14-18, to honor local farmers and agribusinesses and the tremendous economic impact they have on the state. Ohio Agriculture Week is celebrated each March to help educate Ohioans about the importance of the state’s $105 billion food and agriculture industry, on our dinner plates and beyond.