As part of their ongoing commitment to supporting the National FFA Organization, Campbell’s Soups will be preserving 5 barns across the country to help develop America’s future farmers and leaders through agricultural education. The barns will be chosen by voters like you across the country in a contest that will be held from now until January 5, 2010. The Euken’s barn in Atlantic, Iowa was chosen as one of the 10 barns in the competition and is the only barn from Iowa. Campbell’s will donate a dollar for each vote to the National FFA Organization, and when the Eukens win, they will get their barn restored in cooperation with the Atlantic FFA Chapter. Here is their story:
A Hundred Years of Farming
As told by Michelle Euken
“My great-great-grandparents purchased the 320-acre farm, where the barn sits, in 1912. The barn was built in the late 1920s. Originally it was used for hay storage, animal shelter, milking cows, and housing horses. Since then the farm has been passed on down the family all the way to my parents who purchased the farm in 1987.
Barns are a symbol of rural heritage and are landmarks in Iowa. The barn on our farm also is part of our family heritage; the barn will be designated a ‘Century Farm’ (Iowa recognizes farms that have been owned by one family for 100 years) in 2012, so this is an ideal time to revive the barn.
The project will benefit my family to help preserve it for use for many more years. It will bring together current FFA members and Alumni to work on a project that has significance and symbolism for the agricultural heritage of the community. It will re-confirm the family farm heritage in Iowa and the role of the barn on family farms. The publicity about the barn revival will help educate the public about food production and the hands that produce it.”
So follow this link and vote everyday for Euken Farms! Let’s put this Iowa barn in the top 5!