There's pride in Jonathan Kuhn's voice when he talks about the farm that's been in his family's name since 1912. Although he works a second job to help provide for his wife, Andrea, their 2-year-old daughter and soon-to-be-born son, farming is all he's ever wanted to do, Kuhn said.
The Kuhn family farm in Farmington is one of two in Dakota County named this year as Century Farms by the Minnesota Farm Bureau and the State Fair. Overall, 144 farms were named Century Farms in 2012.
Century Farm families receive a commemorative sign and a certificate signed by State Fair and Farm Bureau presidents and by Gov. Mark Dayton. Since the program began in 1976, more than 9,100 farms have been recognized as Century Farms.
"We like to do it because farming and agriculture in Minnesota is such a strong tradition, and recognizing that is not only important to farmers but to all the citizens of Minnesota," said Kristin Harner of the Farm Bureau.
Kuhn farms 290 acres where he raises corn, soybeans and alfalfa, and finishes steers. The farm got its start in 1912 when his paternal great-great-grandfather, Phillip, bought the land.
The land was rented for a short time when Kuhn's great-grandfather died but when his great-grandfather's sons became teenagers they worked the land. Kuhn's father, Norb, bought a neighboring farm, where he raised his family, but when Kuhn's grandfather, also named Norb, died in 2002, Jonathan Kuhn bought the family farm from the estate.
"The farm itself, the only thing that changed is we built a new house last year," said Kuhn. He said the old farmhouse that everybody lived in was burned down by the fire department for training purposes.
Kuhn works full time at Malt-O-Meal in Northfield - 12-hour shifts, three days one week, four days the next. That job gives him the health insurance he probably couldn't afford working the land. It also affords him only three or four hours of sleep some nights. But it's worth it, he said.
