Lloyd and Gladys Hemme’s farm west of Hardwick was recently named Rock County’s 82nd Century Farm.
The Century Farm Program honors Minnesota farm families that have owned the land at least 100 years. A Century Farm must be at least 50 acres in size and currently involved in agricultural production. Since the program began in 1976, nearly 10,000 farms in the state have been recognized, with roughly 250 designated this year.
The Hemme farm is the only 2015 Century Farm designated locally.
“It’s kind of a proud thing to live where your parents and grandparents lived,” Lloyd Hemme said. “It’s great to still have it in the family.”
Hemme is the fourth-generation owner of the 310 acres located in Rose Dell and Denver townships along with his sister, Marlene Buboltz, and his brother, Loren Hemme.
While Lloyd Hemme no longer actively crop farms the land, his cousins mark the fifth generation to till the land purchased in 1886 by Ernest and Eliese Meyer, who were Hemme’s great-grandparents.
Ernest and Eliese Meyer purchased the quarter section in Rose Dell Township for $2.12 per acre and the quarter in Denver Township for $9.50 per acre. The couple lived there for 27 years and built the original house in 1904.
Hemme found the original receipt for the home’s building materials.
Dated Sept. 12, 1904, from J.C. Johnston & Co., the receipt lists the cost for the lumber, wood, coal, lime, cement, tiling and brick at $729.46.
The Hemmes still live in the same five-bedroom home.
“There has been one building add-on,” he said.
Hemme’s grandparents, Heinrich and Anna Hemme, were the next owners, living there for 36 years. They were followed by Hemme’s parents, Emil and Verna Hemme, who lived there the longest — 44 years.
“My dad added most of the (farm) buildings,” Hemme said.
The largest buildings are the two barns, which are still used for his 30-head cow-calf operation. Hemme still farms 20 acres of hay ground.
Lloyd and Gladys Hemme have lived on the farm since 1993, the shortest amount of time in the farm’s 129-year history. There they raised two children, Nick and Courtney.
Sponsors of the Century Farm Program are the Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota State Fair.