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The 2024 honorees include both farms and ranches as well as families that have dedicated more than 100 years to agricultural pursuits within Colorado. Honorees will be recognized at the 2024 Colorado State Fair at 11 a.m. on August 23 during the Centennial Farms & Ranches Celebration at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo.

A complete list of the 2024 honorees can be found here.

In addition to the full list of honorees, below is a small selection of the remarkable farms, ranches, and families that are being honored for their dedication to Colorado's agricultural legacy, as well as the recipients of the annual Agricultural Legacy Awards presented by Dawn DiPrince, president/CEO of History Colorado and State Historic Preservation Officer, and Colorado’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Kate Greenberg.

Highlighted Honorees:
Trainor Family | Centennial Family | Crowley County
One of four families being honored this year for their dedication to Colorado’s agricultural industry is the Trainor Family of Southeast Colorado. Descended from James Joseph Trainor II, who immigrated to North America from Ireland in 1860, the Trainor family has been involved in farming and ranching since 1895 and eventually settled in Crowley County where they took advantage of open range grazing. The Trainor family eventually applied for a homestead in 1909 and the ranch they have worked for generations still contains the original dugout site from which the family’s grazing operations started more than 100 years ago.. 

Over time the total acreage controlled by the Trainor family has fluctuated with the family currently owning 7,000 acres in Crowley County and leasing 25,000 acres from the State Land Board in Arapahoe County. Along with these changes in land ownership has come adaptations in crops and livestock raised. Despite these many changes there have been several constants for the Trainor’s: the husbanding of cattle and horses, and a dogged resilience that saw them preserved through drought, blizzard, and persecution from the Ku Klux Klan who targeted their Irish Catholic ancestors.

Leggett Hedges Ranch | Centennial Ranch | Moffat County
Leggett Hedges Ranch in Northeast Colorado has the unique distinction of having called two different states and four counties home during its years of operations. Founded in 1889 in Wyoming by E.W. Leggett after his attempts to strike it rich in the gold rush ran dry, this Centennial Ranch was transferred between Sweetwater and Carbon Counties before becoming part of Colorado’s Routt County when state lines were redrawn. In 1911 Leggett Hedges Ranch again saw its postal code change when Routt county was divided to create Moffat County. 

While the state and county where the ranch resides has changed, the lineage and tradition of raising cattle has been a constant for generations. Leggett Hedges Ranch is currently maintained by Ann Hedges and her children Ben and Lilia, who continue the legacy of their forebears by using the same canal that once served as a gold mining ditch to irrigate hay crops and corralling livestock with fences erected generations before in the Four Mile Creek Valley..

Hoefler Ranch LLC | Centennial Ranch | Elbert County
Founded by Joseph Hoefler in 1918, the Hoefler family farm and ranch has operated for over 100 years and is currently being overseen by the fourth generation of the family. While known for its long history of conservationally sound farming and ranching, which earned it recognition by the Upper Arkansas Watershed Association for their efforts, the Hoefler ranch also has a tradition of persevering through hardships and challenges. A powerful example of this is the efforts of Anna Hoefler, and her 15 year-old son Lawrence, who took over operations of the ranch when her husband Paul died in 1941.

In 1961 Lawrence purchased the ranch from his mother where he and his wife Linda grew crops and raised Hereford cattle until his death in 1989. Under Linda, the ranch continued operations for the next thirty years and in 2020 her children formed Hoefler Ranch LLC where they continue to carry on over 100 years of Hoefler traditions.

Sugar Beet Leagues of Northern Colorado/Gabriel and Jody Lopez | State Historic Preservation Officer Agricultural Legacy Award
The Sugar Beet Leagues of Northern Colorado served as a cornerstone of community for Mexican and Mexican American farm workers who labored in the beet fields of northern Colorado. Founded in the 1920s by workers recruited from southern Colorado, northern New Mexico, and Mexico, these leagues were a powerful recreational outlet and escape from the physically demanding work performed for companies such as the Great Western Sugar Company. Despite living in segregated company towns, and using handmade equipment that was commonly shared amongst players, the players in the Sugar Beet Leagues dedicated themselves to the game and produced more than a dozen semi-pro teams in 1942, including the Greeley Grays.

The teams formed by the sugar beet workers formed a strong foundation for baseball in Colorado, and strengthened social ties in these marginalized communities, all while building the sugar industry. This award in particular recognizes the work of Gabriel and Jody Lopez to keep the history of these communities alive through their efforts to preserve the story of the Sugar Beet Leagues, elevate Latino excellence in Colorado baseball, and chronicle Colorado’s sugar beet industry.

Deb Daniel, GM of the Republican River Water Conservation District | Commissioner of Agriculture Agricultural Legacy Award
The Republican River Water Conservation District (RRWCD) was created by the Colorado State Legislature in 2004 as a way of ensuring local involvement in the implementation of the Centennial State’s compact with Kansas and Nebraska. Designed to promote water conservation through voluntary participation and providing financial incentives for reduced water consumption or retirement of water rights, the RRWCD has been led by Deb Daniel since 2011. While Daniel’s work is ongoing, she has already built a legacy of commitment to rural communities, and displayed the courage to tackle big issues that impact the future of agriculture.

Daniel is being recognized by the Commissioner of Agriculture for her determination to implement the terms of Colorado’s interstate compact. She is helping lead Colorado and her community through the realities of drier times with focus and compassion. Her dedication to agriculture, unwavering commitment to its future, and her perseverance in the face of a great social, economic, and environmental challenge honors the spirit of the Agricultural Legacy Awards.

About the Centennial Farms & Ranches Program
History Colorado, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, and the Colorado State Fair have partnered to honor Colorado’s agricultural heritage through the Centennial Farms & Ranches Program since 1986, when the program was initiated by former Governor Richard Lamm. 

In 2022, the Centennial Farms & Ranches program was expanded to recognize four categories of honorees associated with the agricultural history of the State of Colorado:

• Centennial Farms or Ranches – farms or ranches that have belonged to the same family for at least 100 years, and are currently working farms or ranches
• Centennial Families – families with agricultural experience in Colorado that spans 100 or more years (eg. 1923-present), not necessarily as landowners
• Centennial Farmers or Ranchers – individuals 100 years of age or older who have spent a majority of their life in agricultural pursuits within the State of Colorado, even if they were not landowners
• Centennial AgriBusiness – organizations or businesses that have been in operation for 100 or more years and primarily serve the agricultural community in Colorado (examples: seed companies, farm implement manufacturers, Farm Bureaus, etc.)

More than 683 families, agribusinesses, and individuals have been recognized by the program. Collectively, they represent the powerful history of Colorado’s farmers and ranchers who have sustained, supported, and innovated for more than 100 years.

About the Colorado Department of Agriculture
The Colorado Department of Agriculture exists to support the state's agriculture industry and serve the people of Colorado through regulation, advocacy, and education. Its mission is to strengthen and advance Colorado agriculture, promote a safe and high-quality food supply, protect consumers, and foster responsible stewardship of the environment and natural resources. Learn more at ag.colorado.gov.

A division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the mission of the Colorado State Fair Authority is to celebrate Colorado’s vibrant and diverse agricultural industry and culture by creating an entertaining, inspiring, and educational inter-generational experience. 

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 145-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado