The University of Minnesota will be recognizing 81 families at its annual Farm Family of the Year program at Farm Fest in early August.

The farm families will be recognized in ceremonies beginning at 1:15 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 4, at Farmfest on the Gilfillan Estate near Redwood Falls. The event is in the Wick Buildings Farmfest Center on the estate grounds.

The families were chosen by local U-Minnesota Extension committees based on their demonstrated commitment to enhancing and supporting agriculture.

All the 2016 farm families are profiled at mnfarmfamilies.cfans.umn.edu.

Here are several of those families that will be recognized.

Aitkin County
Forster Family Farm

University of Minnesota honors farm families of the year

Randy and Billie Jo purchased the farm in 2001 and actively run the farm as partners with their children. The farm consists of 100 acres of cranberry bogs (42 of those are in production), 600 acres of wild rice, 250 acres of soybeans and a small amount of hay. The cranberry operation is called Minnesota Cranberry Company. Randy also owns and operates Forster Construction and Billie Jo owns her own business–Specialty Embroidering.

Their children–and teammates in the operation–are Samantha, Amanda, Shannon and Nathan.

Amanda and Shannon are both officers in their local FFA chapter. Samantha is a member of the Minnesota National Guard.

Chippewa County
Payne Partnership

The 14th generation of the Payne family farms in Grace Township in western Minnesota’s Chippewa County. The family first arrived in America from England in 1638 and settled in Massachusetts.

Tom Payne farms in partnership with two of his sons Chad and Jan and they raise corn and soybeans on 2,500 acres. The Payne’s have 160 acres in CREP and use a combination of conservation and conventional tillage.

Chad is a partner and is responsible for the partnership’s record keeping and marketing. Jan heads machinery maintenance, crop production and electronic equipment operations.

Tom served as township assessor for 35 years. He also served on the local school board and the sugar beet cooperative. He also is a pilot with more than 3,000 hours of flying time.

Dakota County
Hmong American Farmers Association Farm

The Hmong American Farmers Association Farm, a 15-acre research and incubator farm in Vermillion Township, sub-leases land to Hmong-American farm families from the Twin Cities. HAFA also maintains multiple research and demonstration plots to provide continuing education in sustainable agricultural practices for its 18 families.

Since acquiring the farm in 2013, farm organizers, including Pakou Hang and Janssen Hang, have begun implementing numerous sustainable farming practices. Organizers are executing a whole farm pollinator plan and are conducting a multi-year cover crop research project to study the effects of various cover crops on water and soil health.

Martin County
Tracy Melson and Troy Melson

The twin Melson brothers are the fifth generation to farm the land settled by their Swedish ancestors more than 140 years ago.

They are contract growers for New Fashion Pork, raising more than 35,000 pigs a year in 16 barns, as well as growing 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans. They were honored as the 2015 Minnesota Pork Board family of the years.

Olmsted County
Charles and Carrie Sachs

The Sachs family’s dairy farm has registered herds of Brown Swiss and Holsteins on their 320-acre farm, where they grow most of their herds’ feed.

Charlie is in charge of farm management and feeding and breeding cattle. Carrie milks the cows, oversees herd health and the bookwork. She also works full-time as a nurse at Methodist Hospital in Rochester.

Pipestone County
Vander Wal

In 2005, John and Berlinda Vander Wal moved from Canada to Pipestone with their five children. The family built a dairy and began milking 600 cows in November 2006. Over the years, the Vander Wals expanded their operation and they currently milk 2,000 cows. The family raises their calves in a robotic calf feeding facility.

Their oldest daughter, Jenn, is married to Steve Landman. Daughter Alisha and husband Trevor Ekkel are partners in the dairy. Daughters Bernice and Mary-Jo Vander Wal are enrolled in college majoring in animal science and ag business. Son Ian will be a junior this fall at Pipestone Area Schools.

Yellow Medicine County
Stelter Family Farm

The David and Deanna Stelter farm was originally purchased in 1970 by Herb, Dennis and Carole Stelter. The farm maintained purebred hog and dairy operations for decades along with a cropping operation.

Today the farm is run by David and his family. It consists of a 300-cow dairy along with 275 heifers and calves on two different sites. The family raises all its own feed on 700 acres of land—utilizing double cropping, growing mostly corn, wheat and alfalfa.