Joel Sirmon
Alabama Farmer of the Year 2024
Joel Sirmon, along with his brother and three sisters, was born on a 300-acre dairy and farrow-to-finish hog operation that also grew corn and soybeans. His parents wanted him to pursue higher education, so he went off to Auburn University in 1976 but returned home a few months later. He recalled, “All I really wanted to do was farm. That year we sold out of the hog business and went into growing vegetables and strawberries.”
Over the next decade, the Sirmon’s operation expanded and diversified into planting “A to Z” – everything from asparagus to zucchini. In 1982, Joel’s parents sold their dairy herd but kept a handful of beef cattle. In 1990, they transitioned out of vegetables—except for sweet potatoes—into an initial 100 acres of cotton. A further decision to grow peanuts would eventually become very successful; it is now their biggest crop in terms of acreage.
Today Sirmon Farms consists of 3689 acres of owned and rented land. Crop yields are as follows: 397 acres of sweet potatoes yielding 20,000 lbs/acre; 1714 acres of peanuts yielding 4200 lbs/acre; 1284 acres of cotton yielding 800 lbs/acre; 294 acres of corn yielding 150 bushels/acre; 12 head of cattle; 20,000 bags of bagged corn for hunters.
Joel’s wife, Patti, grew up “a city girl” in Daphne and graduated from Auburn University with a BS in Accounting in 1979. They were married later that year. She said, “We started dating in high school, where Joel was a basketball player and I was a cheerleader. This fall we’ll be celebrating 45 years of marriage, along with seven grandchildren.” Having been gifted with a passion for numbers and math of any kind, Patti took on the pivotal role of bookkeeper and office manager forty years ago. Joel said, “Having a reliable and knowledgeable accountant has helped the farm weather economic shifts. Patti’s work also means I can focus on the farm because I know our finances are taken care of.”
About their children, Joel said, “Our son, Bryan, is an orthopedic surgeon and is married to an anesthesiologist. They live in Buckhead, Georgia, with three of our grandchildren. He has been part of medical mission trips to Honduras and Uganda. Our oldest daughter, Jennifer, is married to an attorney and they live in Decatur, Georgia, with three more of our grandchildren. Jennifer worked at Emory College until her second child was born. Now she stays at home with them and is active in their school and church as well as all of the sporting events they participate in.” He added, “Our youngest daughter, Patricia, moved to Italy as an au pair. She met and married an Italian man in 2019, so she and her lawyer husband live in Milan with our newest grandchild. She speaks fluent Italian and teaches preschool English. My mother still lives on the farm and most mornings entertains whoever wants to stop by her house for coffee and fellowship before starting work on the farm.”
Joel markets his row crops while his brother, James, handles the sweet potatoes. Joel locks in prices for set increments throughout the year to manage price changes, reduce risk, and average out the farm’s income. He said, “We farm near the Gulf Coast, so there’s always a chance of a hurricane destroying our crop late in the season. These risk-averse measures insure that we don’t contract out a crop that may not make it.”
For peanuts, Joel locks in prices on a ton of peanuts per acre and sells cotton 200 bales at a time through Staplcotn. Corn is secured 5000 bushels at a time, much of which goes to a feed mill in Hattiesburg. Cleaned and bagged corn is sold to deer and hog hunters directly off the farm and at six local stores. In 2023, a new grain bin was built to enable marketing corn at different times of the year. That same year saw an investment in corn cleaning, cracking, and bagging equipment to help direct sales.
Sweet potatoes are cured, stored, graded, packed and shipped from the farm’s 90,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse and are sold weekly on a year-round basis. Walmart is their main buyer of 40-pound boxes. Other outlets include a frozen French fry plant in Louisiana, the Alabama Farm-to-School program for student lunches, and a cannery in Arkansas. Even the sweet potato culls are sold to deer hunters and used to feed the small cattle herd on the farm, so nothing goes to waste with that crop. Joel said, “During our busiest time of year, particularly leading up to Thanksgiving, we can ship out 500,000 pounds of potatoes in just one week.”
“Hundreds of people visit the farm annually,” Joel said, “from groups of school children to US senators. Free U-pick sunflower and zinnia fields with donation boxes have raised over $20,000 for local charities like Pilots for Christ and cancer victims.”
On the county level, Joel is currently a board member and vice president of the Baldwin County Farms Federation and has served as its past secretary/treasurer. He is also a member of the First South Farm Credit Advisory Board. On the state level, Joel is a board member of the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, a trustee of Peanut PAC, and a sponsor of tours for Alabama Farmers Federation events and leadership programs on an average of three per year since 2016. Sirmon Farms has donated and transported over half a million pounds of produce through Feeding the Gulf Coast since 2014. On the national level, he is a member of the American Peanut Council and a member of its executive board.
On the county level, Patti Sirmon was a member of the Baldwin County Women’s Leadership Committee from 2005 to 2019. She and Joel have participated in working with children on mission trips to Haiti and Ecuador in 2008 and 2013.
“Challenges and farming kind of go hand-in-hand,” Joel said. “Our married life started with a big one. Just twelve days after our wedding, hurricane Frederick hit. While we weathered the storm in my parents’ house, wind flipped our trailer three times and we lost our soybean crop. My dad, brother, and I all went to work for the Corps of Engineers to clean up storm debris, and that pay helped us make ends meet during a tough year.”
Sirmon Farms is located in a county where the population is exploding. Joel observed that every year Baldwin County is the number one or two fastest-growing counties in the state, averaging 20 new residents each day. He continued, “All the land here is for sale for a price—between $25,000 to $40,000 per acre. So we have to add rented acres each year or literally lose ground. Our tact has been to find acreage farther away from the original farmstead, at present within a 25–mile distance.”
As with many farms, there is the ongoing issue of finding a reliable workforce. A labor-intensive crop like sweet potatoes that need to be planted, harvested, and graded by hand, requires a large number of workers. Joel said, “We’ve solved this by using the federal H2A program and have, depending on the time of year, 30 to 60 H2A laborers on the farm. Overall, it’s been a great blessing.”
Another set of challenges includes low commodity prices, the lack of a peanut buying point in the county, a conveniently located cotton gin and state docks that don’t accept as much grain as they once did. Joel’s approach to these issues has been to become an advocate for farming on the local, regional, and state level. Joel has participated in Congressional tours to DC on behalf of farmers. And he noted, “We host elected officials at our farm and explain to them how a farm bill or other pieces of legislation could help or hurt us. We’ve also been flexible and have often changed what we produce to stay profitable.”
Planting cover crops has reduced runoff and improved soil health on Sirmon Farms. Joel regularly updates equipment with precision-ag features, using tractors with GPS technology and yield monitors, thereby reducing fuel usage and input costs. He said, “All of our tractors have RTK autosteer and a fleet of other add-ons that send data directly to our iPads and phones so we can make real-time, informed decisions and plans for the next season. We’ve added PWM spray technology to reduce drift and reduced leaching by splitting our fertility applications and making decisions on a field-by-field basis.”
He continued, “We follow the four Rs of nutrient placement: right source, right rate, right place, and right time to reduce negative impacts on the environment. We also work with a consultant and follow Integrated Pest Management guidelines and use crop-protection products that don’t impact beneficial insects.”
Joel said, “Even though all of our children and my brother’s children have off-the-farm lives and careers, we’re still maintaining and improving the land for the next generation. Our Farm Manager, Greg Resmondo, is 35 and is our County Young Farmers Committee Chair and loves to farm. He’s a local man and is raising his family here, so we hope he’ll take over when we’re ready to retire.”
In his spare time, Joel enjoys bird hunting and taking the grandchildren fishing. The couple also likes to go tailgating in their 5th Wheel at Auburn’s football games where, as Patti says with a laugh, “Joel puts on his Farmers Federation hat and sets up his Farmers Federation tent and brings along some of our sweet potatoes to cook for any takers.” The couple has also participated in many ag industry-related trips and farm tours all over the country. Since their daughter, Patricia, and her family live in Italy, they’ve visited there several times over the years.
Joel Sirmon feels blessed to have heeded that early call to plant crops and reap harvests. He said, “Farming is tough, but it has provided a great way of life for our family. When things seem bleak, we remember to zoom out and read Psalm 121.” The last verse in that chapter reads, “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore”
Joel Sirmon was nominated Alabama Farmer of the Year by Paul Brown, Alabama Farmers Federation Area10 Field Manager. He said, “Joel and Patti have excelled at continuing the family farm in a county where the population is growing exponentially. As subdivisions are built beside their fields, the Sirmon’s strive to be good, welcoming neighbors. Their farm invites all kinds of visitors and groups to learn more about their operation and local agriculture in general.”
He added, “They are also incredibly generous. They’ve donated over one million pounds of food to food banks; donations collected through their sunflower fields have helped numerous local charities. I’m proud to call them friends and to highlight their achievements through this honor.”
Harper Family Holdings, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Florida Farm Bureau, Georgia Farm Bureau, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Tennessee Farm Bureau, and Virginia Farm Bureau have joined together to generously sponsor the 2024 program.
State winners of the Sunbelt Expo award will receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense-paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from the sponsors. A vest from the sponsors will be given to each state winner and nominator. The Moultrie Colquitt Co. Chamber of Commerce will give each state winner a local keepsake.
The state winners are now eligible for the $15,000 cash prize awarded to the overall winner by the sponsors. Massey Ferguson North America will provide each state winner with a gift package and the overall winner with the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year or 250 hours (whichever comes first). A jacket from the sponsors will be given to the overall winner. Hays LTI will award the overall winner with a HAYS Smoker/Grill. In addition, the overall winner will receive a Henry Repeating Arms American Farmer Tribute Edition rifle from Reinke Irrigation.
The Sunbelt Expo is coordinating the Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards for the 34rd consecutive year. $1,324,000 in cash awards and other honors have been awarded to two hundred ninety six southeastern farmers since the award was initiated in 1990.