outstanding Georgia Peanut Farmers of the Year District Winners

District 1 – St. Elmo Harrison, Whigham, Georgia

The District 1 winner is St. Elmo Harrison of Whigham, Georgia. St. Elmo just wrapped up his 71st peanut crop in 2022 and then celebrated his 100th birthday on Nov. 27, 2022. Marketing is one of the many changes Harrison has seen through his years of farming. For a time, he grew 30 acres a year of boiling peanuts for Roddenberry’s in Cairo. Since 1977 he has sold his peanuts to Farmers Peanut Company in Whigham.

Through the years, Harrison increased his acreage to 120 acres but has now decreased to 36 acres of peanuts and leases the land out for a two-year rotation with cotton. His yields have stayed consistent, especially for a dry land crop, at two tons an acre. In 1984, he even earned membership in the Georgia Money Makers Peanut Club, with a yield of 4,937 lbs. an acre on 17 acres. His longevity, especially with his peanuts, has turned him into a bit of a celebrity. A video of his fall harvest went viral and now he has a fan base in New Zealand. He has also been featured in the Through the Eyes of a Farmer video series by the Georgia Peanut Commission.

District 2 – Armond Morris, Tifton, Georgia

The District 2 winner is Armond Morris of Tifton, Georgia. He is a fifth-generation farmer who farms in Irwin and Tift counties in Georgia. Following high school, Morris attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, before returning to the farm and beginning his sharecropping of peanuts, tobacco and corn with his father in 1963. Morris has been a leader within agriculture through his service with a variety of agricultural organizations. However, his heart has always been with peanuts.

Morris recently retired from serving on the Georgia Peanut Commission board of directors for more than 40 years as an advisory board member, board member and chairman. He has been a spokesperson and advocate for Georgia’s peanut farmers on the state, national and international level. He also served as chairman of the American Peanut Council in 2011. Through the years, Morris has represented farmers as president of the Georgia Young Farmers Association and secretary of the National Young Farmers Association.

Morris received the Distinguished Service Award from the Georgia Peanut Commission and was inducted into the American Peanut Council Hall of Fame in 2022. He was also received the Southeast Farm Press Peanut Efficiency Award in 2021, JE Leger Agribusiness Award in 2017, National Peanut Buying Points Association- Distinguished Service Award in 2017, Sunbelt Expo Swisher Sweets Farmer of the Year in 2002, Irwin County Young Farmers Association Farm Family Award and the Master Farmer Award from ABAC and the Georgia Young Farmers Association.

District 3 – Lamar Black, Millen, Georgia

The District 3 winner is Lamar Black of Millen, Georgia. He is a third-generation farmer and started farming after he finished college at ABAC & University of Georgia in 1962. He has been a leader in planting cover crops since 1993. Initially, he planted cover crops for soil erosion control but quickly started seeing more benefits such as improved soil health, increase of organic matter in the top inch of soil and weed suppression.

On the farm, Black grows 315 acres of cotton, peanuts and corn. He is a dedicated to conservation and is a founding member of the Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance where he served as their second president for approximately 15 years. Currently, Black is a supervisor with the Brier Creek Soil and Water Conservation District and serves as treasurer. He is also a member of Georgia Farm Bureau and the Georgia Corn Growers Association. Black has also been very supportive of research projects with the University of Georgia and conducted several on-farm Extension trials.

award to honor farmers life-long

District 4 – Barry Martin, Hawkinsville, Georgia

The District 4 winner is Barry Martin of Hawkinsville, Georgia. Martin grew up on his family’s farm and has been farming for 50 years, growing cotton, peanuts, corn, wheat and sorghum. After high school, he joined the National Guard, and in 1972, his mother helped him buy a few pieces of farm equipment. He started farming that year on 150 acres of rented land.

Martin has developed a systems approach to conservation tillage which involves maintaining a ‘system’ of cover crops and old crop residue on the soil surface year-round. His farming operation has been a model of efficiency and environmental stewardship for other farmers in Pulaski County. Martin has been instrumental in conducting several on-farm cover crop research projects through the National Resources Conservation Service and the University of Georgia Extension Service.

His dedication to conservation and sustainable farming earned Martin recognition in 2011 by the Planters peanut snack food brand, as the first winner from the Southeast of the Naturally Remarkable Planters award. In 2012, Martin was selected as the Georgia winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award.

Martin serves as board president for the Ocmulgee Electric Membership Corp. He has been a member of its board since 1972. Since 1994, he has served on the Pulaski County Farmers Appreciation Committee. Also starting in 1994, he has served as an advisor on agricultural and natural resource issues for the Pulaski County Extension office.

District 5 – Jack Miller, Leslie, Georgia

The District 5 winner is Jack Miller of Leslie, Georgia. Following high school Miller attended and graduated from Georgia Teachers College in Statesboro, taught school for 5 years and joined the Army for 2 years.

In 1954, he moved to Lee County and started farming. He farmed for 47 years and then turned it over to his nephew – Mike Byrd who farmed until he sold the farm. When Miller farmed, he planted 400 acres of peanuts, corn and cotton, and raised 100 head of cattle. He farmed with his brother, Charles for 10 years and they helped start irrigation use in South Georgia to benefit crops. Through the years, Miller also participated in on-farm extension service research trials for corn and peanuts.

Miller is a member of Lee County Farm Bureau where he served as president for 6 years. He is also a member of Georgia Farm Bureau where he served as a district director for 6 years and former chair of the American Farm Bureau Peanut Committee. In 2002, he was awarded the Outstanding Farmer in Lee County from the Chamber of Commerce.