Daniel W. Stamey Farm, Rantoul Township

The Illinois Centennial Farms recognition program was initiated by the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 1972. It was discontinued the following year, but reinstated in 1977. To gain Centennial Farm status the owner must document that the farm has remained in the same family ownership for at least one hundred years. During the Sesquicentennial of Champaign County, a concerted effort was made to register eligible farms; this resulted in bringing the total of Champaign County Centennial Farms officially recognized by the State of Illinois to 168. The first list comes from the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Additional information on these farms can be found in the 1983 publication A Commemorative History of Champaign County Illinois: 1833-1983, on pages 167-178, including full names of current farm owners as of 1983, full names of the original farm owners, and detailed information on township/section, and month and day of the farm's purchase. See also Sesquicentennial Farms of Champaign County.

Two organizations, the Champaign County Fair Association and the Champaign County Farm Bureau, both with lengthy
histories of service to agricultural interests, were responsible for encouraging eligible farm owners to apply for Centennial
Farm status. During the 131st annual Champaign County Fair, a special day was set aside to salute the county's  sesquicentennial. Fair Board President J. Wallace Rayburn and Secretary-Manager Keith Kesler worked with Farm Bureau Executive Director Robert Wendt and Information Director Dennis Riggs to organize a grandstand program in honor of Centennial Farm owners. Lorraine Mohr of St. Joseph headed a sub-committee of the Farm Bureau Women's Committee which researched records in the Illinois State Archives to determine a list of eligible Champaign County farms. The Women's Committee was joined by the Champaign County First Production Credit Association, the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Federal Land Bank in hosting the farm owners at the fair on July 25 and at a reception in front of the grandstand following a recognition program. Speakers at the evening event were Dr. John Campbell, Dean of the University of Illinois College of Agriculture; Patricia L. Miller, Executive Director of the Illinois Heritage Association; and Larry Werries, Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, who presented the official Centennial Farm certificates and green and white metal mar kers to the owners.