Jimmie Jones and family have been selected as the 2022 Outstanding Farm Family of the Year for Santa Rosa County. They were recognized at the Farm Tour on Wed., Oct. 5.

Jimmie has been involved in farming all of his life and grew up working on the family farm. In 1970 at age 20, along with continuing to work on the family farm, he began building his own operation. Through the years his operation grew to approximately 1,200 acres of peanuts, cotton, soybeans, and corn. Jimmie also averaged 100 head of beef cattle.

He received his commercial pilots license and flew an agriculture plane for Jones Flying Service for ten years. Jimmie was on the Jay Peanut Farmers Cooperative board for ten years and served as the vice president for two years and president for five years. Jimmie received the Santa Rosa County Conservation Award in 2015.

Jimmie and his wife Becky have been married for 41 years and are most proud of their two daughters and grandchildren - Ashley and her husband Ryan Williams, Erin and her husband Rod McIntyre and their three children, Carleigh, Triple and Landon.

Over the past ten years, Jimmie has cut back his operation to 500 acres of cotton and peanuts, and maintains 50 head of beef cattle. He no longer has any full time employees, but his brother Joe steps in to help him during planting and harvest seasons.