Last week, the South Carolina Advocates for Agriculture honored two men for their support for farming industry. One was state Senate President Thomas Alexander, the other was longtime farmer and founder of Mixon Seed Company, Danny Mixon, who said the honor humbled him.

I guess its having a bunch of peers in ag being to say I’ve done something over my 55 years means a lot to me. I think it’s probably one of the best awards. I know it’s the best award I’ve ever got.

South Carolina Ag Commissioner Hugh Weathers described Mixon as being three steps ahead of everyone else. Mixon said it’s about giving farmers what they need.

I guess if you can’t keep up, you have to go backwards or forwards and I always say go forwards and not try to figure out what could be the next step. And the Lord’s blessed me and He’s given me some excitement and I’m doing that and try to say, “What is the farmer gonna do next?” I learned a long time ago, the Chinese, when they plan ahead, it’s not a year. It’s five and seven years. And so I guess I’ve tried to learn from that.

Danny said you also have to be willing to take a risk.

And you have to pick something and try. It might not be right. But if you don’t, if you don’t do nothing, it don’t matter. Your people will say, “Oh, you did this. You did that.” And they don’t know what I did wrong. I don’t tell nobody.

There’s been a changing of the guard at Mixon Seed as well as recently purchasing Wanamaker Seed Company. Mixon explains.

I’ve got three kids, two daughters, I knew wouldn’t come back, and my son was more interested in other stuff. And I’ll be honest with you, labor’s a problem, and I didn’t want him to be forced to trying to find labor. And we decided to get into the development business and timber business. And Robert is been a friend of mine with DuPont long time, and he’s from Orangeburg County, and it was just a good marriage.

Another thing the longtime ag Leader credits is the advances in technology and precision agriculture.

I can remember back 20 years ago, I was involved in the first 200 or 204 bushel corn in Waynesboro, Georgia. I held onto the tape and we thought we were doing something. Today we’re making 200 bushel dryland corn because of the good Lord’s weather. We shooting for 300 bushel irrigated… where will we be in five to 10 years? Three,  400 bushel corn I think is there.

Regardless of the results, Mixon says farmers are in the business because they love it.

Farmers are different because they’re self-motivated, self-worked, and you can’t find labor. You definitely can’t find people that can work theirself. And so a farmer is more about their desire, making crops, and doing well in his money.