Released: Jan. 20, 2026
TIFTON, Ga – Willard Mims, Donalsonville, Georgia, received the Outstanding Georgia Peanut Farmer of the Year Award for District 1 at the 49th annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference, Jan. 15, 2026, at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton, Georgia. 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 award 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.
Mims started farming with his father, Roy Mims, following high school. After his father’s death, he continued to farm with his two sons, and they formed Mims Farm Partnership. Mims has been farming for 62 years. Today, the farm consists of 3,000 acres of peanuts, corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat, and hay, along with beef cattle and timber.
Mims is a founding member of Cloverleaf Cotton Gin and the American Peanut Growers Group. He is a director for 41 years with Three Notch EMC, director of Georgia Electric Membership Corporation, director of Oglethorpe Power Cooperative and served as a board of director for Ameris Bank.
Mims is an active member of the Seminole County Young Farmers, Farm Bureau and FFA Alumni. He served as vice president of FFA in 1963-64 and is past recipient of the Ag Person of the Year for Seminole County.
Mims’s spouse of 54 years, Betty, passed away in 2022. Together, they have three children, Angie, Greg and Clent, along with 6 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
Additional district winners include District 2 – Jones Brother Farms, Chula; District 3 – Carl Hood, Midville; District 4 – Keith Moore, Cordele; and District 5 – Rodney Locke, Dawson. These farmers received a sign to display at their farm and gift cards from Agri Supply and the Georgia Peanut Commission.
For photos and additional information on the Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference, visit the Georgia Peanut Commission website at www.gapeanuts.com.
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Photo caption: Willard Mims, Donalsonville, Ga., receives the Outstanding Georgia Peanut of the Year Award for District 1 by the Georgia Peanut Commission during the 49th annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference, Jan. 15, 2026, at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton, Ga. Pictured left to right: John Harrell, Georgia Peanut Commission advisory board member representing District 1, and Mims.