The Herald and News, May 23, 1975 -- 50 Years Ago

A telephone call from Portland Thursday night informed the James R. Ottoman family of Malin that they had been named winner of the national Farm Family of the Year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Home Administration.

Agriculture Secretary Earl L. Butz made the official announcement today in Washington, D.C. following the year-long selection process.

Ottoman and his wife, Patricia, live on a 167-acre potato-hay-grain farm. Both were raised in the City of Klamath Falls but began farming land leased from the government and later purchased their own farm.

“It’s just fantastic,” Mrs. Ottoman said this morning. “We just couldn’t believe it,” when FmHA officials in Portland telephoned the good news in advance.

Since 1958 the Ottomans have been borrowers from FmHA, a credit agency for farmers who cannot get loans from commercial sources.

The Ottoman’s purchased their initial acreage in 1949 and have continued to add to their holdings. They have never sold a parcel of land; only what it produced.

Every member of the family has participated in operations—Kristi, 26; Jim 24; and Dana, 20, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Ottoman.

Their first farm, purchased in 1949 was a 40 acre clover field “with no improvements, many ditches and a hight water table” according to Medford Abbott, local FmHA county supervisor who submitted their name in the contest.

The Herald and News, May 23, 1975