The Illinois Heritage Farm Programs honor generations of farmers who have worked to maintain family farms in Illinois. To qualify as one of these farms, an agricultural property must have been owned by the same family of lineal of collateral descendants for the required period. A centennial agribusiness must have been doing business under the same name or ownership for the required period.

A lineal descendant is a person in the direct line of descent, such as a child or a grandchild. A collateral descendant is not a direct descendant, but is otherwise closely related, such as a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or cousin.

Click on the sign below for more details on that program.

Centennial Agribusiness Program
The Centennial Agribusiness program was established to honor the generations of businesses who have worked to produce, process, and/or distribute agricultural products in Illinois for 100 or more years.

Centennial/ Sesquicentennial / Bicentennial Farm Program
The Centennial/Sesquicentennial Farms program honors generations of farmers who have worked to maintain family farms in Illinois. To qualify for Centennial/Sesquicentennial Farm status, an agricultural property must have been owned by the same family of lineal or collateral descendants for at least 100/150 years.

Heritage Farms Commonly Asked Questions

Agriculture Day at the Illinois State Fair

For more information please contact:

Illinois Centennial / Sesquicentennial/Bicentennial Farms Program
Illinois Department of Agriculture Marketing and Promotions
State Fairgrounds
P. O. Box 19281
Springfield, Illinois 62794-9281

Phone: 217-557-6993
Email: AGR.CentFarms@illinois.gov

Illinois Specialty Crop Block Grant

The Illinois Department of Agriculture receives Specialty Crop Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Specialty Crop Block Grant - Farm Bill. A portion of those grant funds will be used to fund the Illinois Specialty Crop Grant Program. Through this program Illinois specialty crop projects can apply for grant funds to help increase the competitiveness of the Illinois specialty crop industry.

Illinois Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program

The purpose of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, to provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, to support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities. 

Illinois Local Food Infrastructure Grant

The new Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program will invest in critical infrastructure to scale up the processing, aggregation, and distribution of local food to meet the needs of Illinois communities. 

Dairy Business Innovation Alliance Grants

The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) has established a grant program that will solicit, review and approve proposals from dairy farms and businesses within the region, who will then receive a financial grant to help bring said ideas to fruition.

Examples of applications qualifying for grants could include:

• Modernization, specialization or expansion of farmstead or plant infrastructure to support product development or improvement.
• Increase sales of current product quality/range through product development, packaging and marketing.
• Value chain and commodity innovation to develop specialty dairy products from their operations.
• Ensure quality compliance to give businesses greater access to the food industry, e.g. to supply local stores and processors.

This is grant is administered by the DBIA.  For more information, please follow the link above.