Newton farmer named district’s top peanut grower

TIFTON – Joe Heard of Newton received the Outstanding Georgia Peanut Farmer of the Year Award for District 1 at the 43rd annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center. The award is sponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission and Agri Supply.

The Georgia Peanut Commission presents the Outstanding Georgia Peanut Farmer of the Year awards to one farmer in each of the commission’s five districts. This award is designed to honor farmers who have given life-long devotion to peanut farming and who have the passion, diligence, leadership and desire to see that the peanut industry in the state of Georgia continues to represent the highest quality possible.

Heard began farming in 1957 at the age of 14. During that year, he made his first crop of peanuts and corn. While in school it was tradition during that time period for many of the children to work on the farm during some school days. Heard remembers missing school to work on his family’s farm, and he continues to work every day on the farm with his sons and grandsons. Through the years, he has also grown milo, wheat, rye and cotton.

The farm has been recognized numerous times through the years for high corn yields in the Dekalb Fieldmaster’s Club and high peanut yields in the Georgia Money Maker Club (now known as the Georgia Peanut Achievement Club).

In addition to farming, Heard serves on the board of the American Peanut Growers Group in Donalsonville and manages Five Points Peanut Buying Point in Newton. The buying point purchases 13,700 tons annually for APGG, and 50 to 70 percent of those peanuts are grown by the Heard family. The farm is a stockholder in Miller County Gin and operates Joe Heard Trucking.

Heard’s farm is approximately 10,000 acres and remains family-owned. Members of the Heard family who work on the farm include his two sons, Jerry and Jeff, and his grandsons, Chase, Will, Walker and Kevin. Joe and his wife, Nancy, say they are proud their family is involved in agriculture and their children and grandchildren have returned to rural Georgia to carry on the family tradition as part of their farming operation.

Heard’s family includes his two sons, his daughter, Karen. Jerry Heard is married to Tammy, and they have four children: Brooklyn Holt, Chase, Will and Walker. Great grandchildren Sawyer and Henry Holt are also part of the clan. Jeff Heard is married to Janna, and they have two children: Kevin and Caroline. Karen Heard League lives in Toccoa, with her two children, Cason and Gabby, where she is a practicing speech language pathologist.

Other district winners announced by the Peanut Commission were District 2 – Ray Peele, Lenox (posthumously); District 3 – Bobby C. Smith Jr., Rocky Ford; District 4 – Windell Gardner, Cordele, and District 5 – James Gaston, Americus. These farmers received a sign to display at their farm and gift cards from Agri Supply and the Georgia Peanut Commission.

For additional information about the Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference, visit the Georgia Peanut Commission website at gapeanuts.com.