Lee County farmers Garrett and Robin Dixon have been named Alabama’s Outstanding Young Farm Family, earning the honor after a competition that considered not only the success of their farming operation but also their involvement in agriculture and their community.
The Dixons were honored Aug. 8 during the Alabama Farmers Federation Farm & Land Conference in Mobile.
The Outstanding Young Farm Family competition is open to farmers ages 18 to 35 who receive more than half their income from production agriculture. Applicants went through an application and interview process before the field was narrowed to three finalists, who then hosted judges on their farms in June.
According to the Alabama Farmers Federation, the competition focuses on farm growth, profitability, Federation involvement and civic service.
For Garrett Dixon, 35, the recognition comes after years of building a farming operation that began on a much smaller scale.
He started with a few head of cattle while still in high school and planted 100 acres of soybeans while attending Auburn University. He later shifted to peanuts and cotton, crops better suited to the sandy soil and hot weather of the Salem area of Lee County.
The land also has deep ties to his family. Garrett is a skip-generation farmer whose ancestors farmed in the area dating back to the 1800s.
Over the past decade, he has expanded his acreage, added irrigation, improved soil fertility and, more recently, expanded the farm’s cattle herd.
“I love farming in spite of all its challenges because you see the fruits of your labor rewarded,” Garrett said. “When you plant a tiny seed and then harvest a crop in the fall, it’s satisfying knowing you were with that crop every step of the way.”
While Garrett spends his days working the land, Robin is helping students understand where agriculture fits into their own lives.
An agriscience teacher and FFA adviser at Smiths Station High School, she regularly brings experiences from the family farm into her classroom.
Her students have calculated sprayer formulas after watching video of Garrett operating farm equipment, studied animal husbandry using the Dixons’ cattle herd and visited the farm to see agriculture firsthand.
“They buy their groceries in the store but don’t think about where their food comes from,” Robin said. “With my personal perspective, it really opens their eyes when I’m late to school because the cows got out or whatever it is that’s happened on the farm.”
That focus on the next generation extends to the Dixons’ own children, Chandler Jane, 4, and Cash, 2, who are already becoming familiar with life on the farm.
Chandler Jane even has her own small cotton patch near the family’s home. A sign in the field identifies it as “CJ’s Pickin’ Patch,” and Garrett and Robin are using it to begin teaching their daughter lessons about responsibility and stewardship.
“We’ll take some of those proceeds and give to her to use as she wants to teach her to be responsible, to tithe and to take some ownership, albeit a small slice, at a young age,” Garrett said.
The children represent the seventh generation of the family’s agricultural tradition.
The Alabama Farmers Federation shared more about the Dixon family and their Lee County farming operation in the video below.
Beyond their own farm, Garrett and Robin have been active in agricultural organizations and their community.
Garrett has chaired the State Young Farmers Committee and serves on the Alabama Peanut Producers Association board and Lee County Farmers Federation board. He is also a graduate of A.L.F.A. Leaders Class V and the Peanut Leadership Academy.
Both Garrett and Robin have held various leadership roles with Lee County Young Farmers.
As Alabama’s Outstanding Young Farm Family, the Dixons will receive $40,000 toward a Ford vehicle courtesy of Alfa Insurance, a one-year lease on a John Deere tractor from John Deere, SunSouth and TriGreen, and a John Deere Gator from Alabama Ag Credit and Alabama Farm Credit.
Their competition isn’t over yet.
The Dixons will represent Alabama in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Achievement Award competition in Charlotte, North Carolina, in January 2027.
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
