The Family Land Heritage program sponsored by the Texas Department of Agriculture recently honored 68 Texas family farms and ranches engaged in continuous agricultural production for 100 years or more, including the family farms and ranches of several Farm Bureau members.

Texas Farm Bureau was a title sponsor of the Oct. 15 awards ceremony in New Braunfels as part of its longstanding support of family land heritage and ownership.

The 68 farms and ranches recognized represented 48 counties. The Family Land Heritage program began in 1974 and has honored more than 5,000 Texas family farms and ranches in its 50-year history.

Among the farms and ranches of Farm Bureau members recognized was Coward Ranch in Gatesville.

The cow-calf ranch was founded by Jim Lawrence Coward in 1924, and generations have grown the operation over time.

“I’m just so thankful that through the generations, through the hard times and the temptations to do something different, they hung onto it,” said Will Coward, Coryell County Farm Bureau member.

Coward said they want to keep the ranch in the family, and the family on the ranch.

“As a manager of your ranch, it is your job to make decisions with the next generation in mind,” Coward told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “I feel like that’s kind of my mission on our ranch is to make it profitable and enjoyable where my kids, and maybe one day even my grandkids, will want to be involved.”

A farm or ranch qualifies for inclusion in the registry if the family has maintained at least 10 acres of the land in continuous agricultural production for at least 100 years. Family can include relatives by blood, marriage or adoption; the ability to trace ownership from the founder to the present generation; and the land fits the old U.S. Census definition of a farm: 10 acres or more with agricultural sales of $50 or more a year.

Owners must be actively managing the everyday operation of the property.

For more information about the Family Land Heritage program, visit texasagriculture.gov.