Thirty additional farms were inducted into the Arkansas Century Farm Program recently, including several from Southeast Arkansas.
The Arkansas Century Farm Program recognizes Arkansas farms of 10 acres or more owned by the same family for at least 100 years, according to a news release.
Southeast Arkansas honorees include:
• Arkansas County -- Oscar Clark Farm (Est. 1916);
• Bradley County -- Rob Scroggins Farm (Est. 1919);
• Drew County -- Hoover Farm (Est. 1910;
• Lincoln County -- Hughes Farm (Est. 1883).
Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture in inducting the farms into the program, according to the release.
The Century Farm program includes 494 farms in Arkansas. The 30 new inductees are located in Arkansas, Bradley, Cleburne, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Drew, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Howard, Independence, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Ouachita, Perry, Scott, Searcy, Sharp, Washington, White and Woodruff counties.
The state Department of Agriculture began the Century Farm program in 2012 to highlight the contributions of these families to the agriculture industry as well as their overall contributions to the state.
"Arkansas consistently ranks in the top 25 nationally in the production of more than 15 agricultural commodities," according to the release.
Agriculture is Arkansas' largest industry, contributing more than $21 billion to the state's economy annually and providing more than 269,000 jobs, one of every six jobs, in the state.
"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," Hutchinson said.
A complete list of all Arkansas Century Farms is available at https://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/arkansas-department-of-agriculture-services/arkansas-century-farm-program/.