March 28, 2024

Hendersons awarded for Century Farm

Tom and Jerrie Henderson and family were awarded recognition Aug. 16 for their century farm at the lowa State Fair. The farm was purchased Feb. 28, 1918, by Richard and Rose Eivins for $192.50/acre in Adams County, near the Adams-Union County line near Kent.

It was originally 80 acres, and is now part of 200 acres. In 1939, after Jerrie’s grandfather’s death, the ownership was shared with her father, Lyle Eivins. In 1963, after her grandmother’s death, the ownership was shared with her mother, Ila Eivins.

From 1968 to 2010, ownership became a family corporation with Tom and Jerrie being shareholders and living on the farm from 1970 to 2016. In 2010, they purchased the parcel of land. Current occupants are their daughter and family, Tom and Debbie Short, Adam and Sophia.

The history of the farm has been production of general commodities and livestock, with most concentration on corn and beans the last few years and a more than 40-year history of a cow-calf operation.