[343]STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES MACON COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2008
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES MACON COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Canada & Green Farm Becomes County’s 20th Designated Century Farm, Hankins Says

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Canada & Green Farm in Macon County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reported Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms Program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
In July1907, S. B. Canada established a 460-acre farm seven miles east of Lafayette. Married to Mary Morrow Canada, the couple had one son, William Alfred Canada. Corn, wheat, beef and dairy cattle, hogs and chickens were raised on the farm.
William Alfred Canada married Virgie West Canada and they had two sons, William Carcie and James Henry. Eventually, the land passed to William’s two sons. After William Carcie died, without children, his brother, James, became the owner of the farm. James married Loe E. Smith and they had one child, Georgia Gustine Canada, who in turn, owned the farm. She married Kenneth Green.
In 1989, the great-great-grandson of the founder, Robert K. Green, acquired the farm. Today, four generations reside on the farm. Robert and his wife, Teresa Kay (Thomas) and their children and grandchildren live on the property, as does Georgia Gustine Canada.
The family reports that Robert works the land and raises tobacco, corn, beef cattle, dairy cattle and horses. A milk barn and tobacco barn, dating from earlier years, are in good shape and used for the farm operations.
“The Canada & Green Farm is the 20th Century Farm to be certified in Macon County,” Hankins said.
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of
documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a
metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.