Nevada Centennial Ranch and Farm Awards Program

Apply for the 2018 Centennial Awards

The application deadline is Oct. 5, 2018.

Click here for the application.

​To qualify as a Centennial Ranch or Farm, an applicant’s ranch or farm must have belonged to his or her families for at least 100 years and must be a working ranch or farm with a minimum of 160 acres or if it is less than 160 acres, it must have gross yearly sales of at least $1,000.

Return your completed application to:

Ciara Kelley
405 South 21st Street
Sparks, NV 89431

or via email to c.kelley@agri.nv.gov.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ciara Kelley at 775-353-3628 or at c.kelley@agri.nv.gov. 

About

The Nevada Centennial Awards Program recognizes agricultural families who have owned and operated the same land for 100 years or more. Forty-nine families have now been inducted into the program that began in 2004.

The awards program is sponsored by the Nevada Agriculture Plate funds, Farm Bureau, Agricultural Foundation, Nevada Department of Agriculture, Cattlemen’s Association and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

2017 Recipients: Bottari (1916), de Braga (1917) and Saval (1917) families

Bottari Ranch

Bottari Ranch, located in Lamoille, Nevada, was purchased by John and Cicilia Palena in 1916. In the early years, the Bottari Ranch had a small herd of 100 head of cattle. The ranch took the Bottari name when their daughter Guiditta married Pete Bottari, who bought the farm from the Palenas in 1967. When both Pete and Guiditta passed away, the ranch was left with their sons Duilio and John, who took care of it together until John sold his shares to Duilio. Duilio married Ella May and lived on the ranch until 2013. Ella May is still on the ranch, cooking on a wood and propane kitchen range. She is known for making delicious pies.

The Bottari family is still very close and meets to celebrate birthdays and holidays on the ranch. The Bottari Ranch is currently in a family trust and intended to be kept in the family as a working ranch for as long as possible.

de Braga Ranch

Located in Fallon, Nevada, the de Braga Ranch was established in 1917. The original owner, Joe de Braga, moved from the Azore Islands off the coast of Portugal to Austin, Nevada in the late 1800s. After receiving a flier enticing people to move to Fallon to participate in the water project from the Lahontan Dam, Joe and his wife Marguerite de Braga loaded up a wagon and took their family to Fallon in hopes of a new and better life.

Their son Frank met and married Goldie and built their own life on the farm until Frank passed away in 1989. Frank’s son Ted de Braga owns the land that Joe and Marguerite homesteaded 100 years ago and the ranch still stands strong to this day.

Buffalo Ranch

In 1892, brothers Jose and John Zabalbeascoa moved to America from the Basque country in Europe to work for a sheepherder in Nevada. After they both agreed to accept sheep as payment, the brothers began to herd their own sheep alongside their employer’s. In 1917, Jose, who had changed his name to Joe Saval) acquired the Buffalo Ranch in Buffalo Valley, Nevada and one year later, he married Jesusa Saval.

John was killed in 1918 due to a car accident, and when Joe passed away in 1938, the ranch operations were left to Jesusa. Up until her death in 1982, Jesusa ran the ranch and cared for her three children, all while making difficult choices about the ranch’s future. After liquidating the northern Nevada ranches, she kept the southern ranching properties and approximately 200 head of cattle, which she used to rebuild the operation after Joe’s death. Buffalo Ranch is currently operational in the name of the Joe Saval Company.

Past Winners

2015 Recipients 

Stewart's 96 Ranch, Humboldt County (1864)

2014 Recipients 

Triple S Ranch, Washoe County (1874)

Johnson and Springmeyer families, Douglas County (1870's)

2013 Recipients

Martin Ranch, Eureka and Nye Counties (1887)

Manha Farm, Lyon County (1912)