ALAPAHA – Dixon Farm Supply, based in Alapaha, has been honored as the National Peanut Buying Point of the Year. The award was recently made at the summer conference of the National Peanut Buying Points Association at the Lake Blackshear Resort.

According to Tyron Spearman, NPBPA executive director, “It has been a tradition to honor one buying point each year that does a good job buying peanuts and serving their farmers, but is also involved as a family in the local community and the industry and association.” Spearman says there are 127 peanut buying points in Georgia and 400 nationwide from New Mexico to Virginia across the peanut belt.

The Dixon family are third generation farmers. They got into the farm supply business in 1985 and added their peanut buying point facility in 1991. In 2001, they also added a cotton gin to their family’s operations.

Rhonda and Steve Dixon, along with their three children, Carl Mathis Dixon, Quentin Dixon and Jaclyn Dixon Ford, own and operate all of their businesses. Spearman said the family is very involved in their local community and church. They have been awarded numerous community and industry-related awards.

Steve served on the Berrien County School Board for 20 years and was awarded the Helping Hands Club Citizen of the year award for 2014. He was instrumental in the renovation of the old Alapaha School gym.

Rhonda currently serves on the National Peanut Buying Point Association board, formerly serving as Treasurer, and has served on the Berrien County Chamber of Commerce Board in past years. Carl Mathis, who oversees the operations of the farm supply and peanut buying point, is currently on the Georgia Peanut Commission Advisory Board. Dixon buys peanuts for Birdsong Peanuts.
Quentin, who manages the farming operations, received the 2011 Farm Bureau “Farmer of the Year” Award and the 2011 and 2012 Young Farmer “Farm Family of the Year” Awards.

Jaclyn manages the gin and serves on several cotton industry boards and is currently on the State Farm Service Agency Committee based in Athens. The family also won the 2010 “Cotton Marketer of the Year” award from Cotton Grower Magazine. Last year’s winner was Southeastern Gin and Peanuts of Surrency.