Banks Co. farm recognized at Georgia National Fair

PERRY - The Georgia Centennial Farm program recently recognized a Banks County farm and a number of others from around the state at the Georgia National Fair in Perry.

This marks the 20th year of the program during which time 451 farms Georgia farms have been recognized.

Among those singled out this year was Boring and Brooks Estate, Banks County, recipient of a Georgia Centennial Heritage Farm Award.

(Jaemor Farms in Lula was one of last year's honorees along with several other farms in northeast Georgia. See link below.)

Recognition is given to farm owners through one of three distinguished awards.

The Centennial Heritage Farm Award honors farms owned by members of the same family for 100 years or more that are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Centennial Farm Award does not require continual family ownership, but farms must be at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Centennial Family Farm Award recognizes farms owned by members of the same family for 100 years or more that are not listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Others that were honored included: the Fannin-Cooper Farm, Paulding County, which also received a Georgia Centennial Heritage Farm Award.

The following 24 farms received Georgia Centennial Family Farm Awards:
- Troy and Nellie Jo Spicer Farm, Berrien County
- Alderman Family Farm, Bulloch County
- Norris Chester Mattox, Sr., Farm, Clinch County
- Oak Hill Farm, Cook County
- Can Do Farms, Dooly County
- Wooten Farms, Dougherty County
- H. W. Kessler Farm, Effingham County
- McMullan Farms, Hart County
- C.T. Bray Family Farm, Johnson County
- Morton Farm, Jones County
- Staten Plantation and Murray Staten Farms, Lowndes County
- Julius McAllister Farm, Marion County
- McAllister Family Farm, Marion County
- Williams Family Farm, Morgan County
- Berry Family Farm, Newton County
- Gatliff Farms, Peach County
- The Dixon Family Farm, Pierce County
- Southwind Farm, Randolph County
- Fountain Family Farm, Taylor County
- Kentavia Williams Farm, Inc., Thomas County
- Glenn Family Farm Homestead, Troup County
- Goodwin Brothers Farm, Webster County
- Freeman Springs Farm, Whitfield County
- Jenkins-Shanklin Family Farm, Worth County

If you are interested in nominating a farm for recognition during the next application cycle, please visit www.georgiacentennialfarms.org to download an application or contact Charlie Miller, Centennial Farm Awards committee chair, at 404-651-5287 or by email at [email protected]. The postmark deadline for applications is May 1 of each year.

(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)