The Ag Council of Nevada is looking for farms and ranches that have been in the same family for 100 years or more. Applications for the Nevada’s Centennial Ranch and Farm Awards Program are due by June 30.
Two Fallon families were inducted into the program in 2011, bringing the number of families to forty-three, according to Liz Warner, Centennial Awards Program coordinator. Lifelong Fallon residents Robert Getto, Sr. and Virgil Getto — cousins whose respective fathers, John and Andrew, purchased the land where their farms have operated since 1911 — were honored during a ceremony held at the Churchill County Museum.
“We know there are other ranches and farms out there that qualify,” said Warner, “and we’d really like to add them to this prestigious list of Nevada’s pioneering families.”
In order to qualify, the farm or ranch must consist of at least 160 acres, and if not, must have a gross income of $1,000. Ownership must also have remained within the same family and at the same location for 100 years, according to Dennis Hellwinkel, project manager for the Ag Council.
“The Centennial Awards Program acknowledges the deep roots Nevada’s ranchers and farmers have with the land,” said Hellwinkel. “It is a celebration of Nevada’s agriculture and farm families who feed the world and care for the land.”
Applications are due by June 30, 2012. For application forms and more information, contact Warner at (775) 857-8500 x 105 or go online to the Centennial Awards Web site at http://www.nv.nrcs.usda.gov/
The program is sponsored by the Agricultural Council of Nevada, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Nevada Farm Bureau, Nevada Ag Foundation, Nevada Heritage Foundation, Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and Nevada Department of Agriculture.
