The Delaware Department of Agriculture recognizes three families with Century Farm Awards.
Established in 1987, the Century Farm Program honors families that have owned the same farmland for one hundred years or longer.
They must include at least 10 acres of the original parcel or gross more than $10,000 annually in agricultural sales.
The three families honored this year were the Evans Family with R & C Evans Farm L.P. in Harrington, the Fleetwood Family in Laurel, and the Warnick Family in Greenwood.
David Evans says this honor means a lot to his family, but he wishes his late father could be here to see it.
"It just is a wonderful connection to our ancestors and what they went through so I can have what I have today, and missing dad because he really wanted to be here,” said Evans. “He missed it by 3 months. That was one of the things that he really wanted was to get here and be here for this ceremony. So it's kind of bittersweet today."
Valerie Warnick says it’s an honor her late husband worked for.
"My husband passed in 2022, and it was one of his goals to have the farm recognized as a century farm. So we just followed through on that," said Warnick.
The families receive an engraved pewter tray, a certificate for framing, and a sign that shows they’re a Delaware Century Farm.
Roland Fleetwood accepted his award with his son and grandson.
"It's a great honor,” said Fleetwood. “I've been a farmer all my life, I'm 90-years-old, and I've farmed since I was eight or ten, participating in farming, driving a tractor, driving a mule. They had mules back then."
Their names are also engraved on large recognition plaques on display at the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village and the Delaware Department of Agriculture.
