By Rebecca Farrow, Contributing Writer
The Georgia Centennial Farm Program was developed in 1993 to distinguish family farms that have helped preserve our agricultural history by maintaining working farms for over 100 years. For over a century, these farms have been tended to, preserving a heritage that spans generations. They have survived major technological shifts, economic ups and downs, wars, kudzu, fire ants, the boll weevil, and even the Great Depression.
Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall says, “It’s not easy to keep anything going for 100 years. Our job as farmers is to look after the land and the resources the Good Lord gave us. I say all the time that I didn’t inherit my farm; I’m just taking care of it for my grandchildren.”
Started by the Georgia Farm Bureau in collaboration with other state agencies, the program is now administered by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. It has recognized three categories: Centennial Farms, Centennial Family Farms, and Centennial Heritage Farms. While all awards require that farms be at least 100 years old, the different categories help identify farms that have had continual ownership by the same family and/or are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Applications are due May 1st of each year, and qualifying farms are recognized in October on the opening day of the Georgia National Fair in Perry. At last year’s awards ceremony, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said, “The more 100-year farms we have, the more successful Georgia agriculture will continue to be. Agriculture is a matter of national security. A nation that can’t feed itself can’t sustain itself. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want America to ever get there.”
Nominees must be working farms with a minimum of 10 acres of the original purchase, actively involved in agricultural production, and generate at least $1,000 in annual farm-generated income. Over the past several decades, the program has recognized more than 650 farms around the state, but none in Pickens County. Three other local counties are notably missing: Bartow, Gilmer, and Fannin, while Gordon, Cherokee, Dawson, Murray, Forsyth, Lumpkin, and Union are all represented.
Kaluna Farm’s recent ribbon cutting highlighted that the property has been in the family for seven generations. With agricultural properties like this around the county, it makes one wonder what factors have led to our farms either not surviving 100 years or not being recognized. Marble may have been the primary driving factor of our local economy, but farming played, and continues to play, a role in our local landscape.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture shows more than 16,000 acres of agricultural land being worked across 220 farms in Pickens County. Of those, 99% are family farms, and 183 are at least 10 acres in size. So, how do we find the oldest continuously operated farms? None are listed on the National Register of Historic Places for Pickens County. And with 40% of our farmers aged 65 and above, how do we continue our farming tradition and ensure that one day Pickens County has Centennial Farms?
Centennial Farm Award questions can be directed to Rose Mayo, Historic Preservation Division Outreach Coordinator, at 770-855-2586 or rose.mayo@dca.ga.gov.
