Johnson named ’07 Georgia Sunbelt Expo Farmer
by Jennifer Whittaker, Editor

Ten weeks have made a world of difference to Daniel Johnson.

On May 16, Johnson was unable to plant cotton and peanut crops on his Pierce County farm due to severe drought conditions. He had planted his tobacco crop, but he had used almost all of the water in his surface ponds to plant the crop and was saving the little water he had left as insurance to irrigate the crop.

Fast forward to July 24. Thanks to the 11.5 inches of rain Johnson received since June 2, he is a day away from beginning his tobacco harvest and has cotton and peanuts growing in his fields.

“It’s a miracle we’ve got anything. In May it was doom and gloom. We were real fortunate to get rain, and we’re making a crop,” Johnson said with a broad smile. “You ask and you shall receive, if you ask hard enough. I’m a full believer in that.”

The turning point for Johnson came June 2, when Tropical Storm Barry brought significant rainfall to his farm.

“If Barry had not come through we would have been in a mess,” Johnson said. “I was trying to think the other day what it would have felt like if we had not been able to plant a crop this year. I’ve been here all of my life trying to make a living at it.”

While he’s most thankful for the rain God has sent his way, Johnson is also smiling a little wider after recently being named the 2007 Georgia Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Farmer of the Year. Pierce County Extension Director James Jacobs nominated Johnson for the award. Johnson was selected for the honor in judging conducted by the Georgia Extension Service.

“It’s hard to describe what being chosen for this honor means to me. I’m dedicating this award to every Georgia farmer who has struggled in 2007,” Johnson said. Now Johnson will compete for the Southeastern title against farmers from nine other states. Judges will visit the farms of all the state winners in early August. The winner will be announced on Oct. 16, at Sunbelt Expo. Johnson was previously Georgia’s Sunbelt Expo Farmer in 2001.

“Daniel is an innovator,” Jacobs said. “He adopts the latest technology and growing methods to make his farm more productive and profitable. He’s also an excellent cooperator with UGA tobacco research trials.”

The latest technology Johnson adopted on his farm is a Trimble® global positioning system. Johnson credits the system with allowing him to plant about 900 acres of cotton and 430 acres of peanuts after June 2.

“If it hadn’t been for our new GPS system we wouldn’t have been able to plant our crops in time. It let me plant around the clock, and my arm is still intact,” Johnson said.

Johnson and his wife, Patricia, have four children – daughters Lindsey, 18, LeeAnn, 12, and sons Dan, 8, and Dawson, 3.

He serves as a GFB 10th District director and is the Pierce County Farm Bureau president.