Hugh Weathers, commissioner for the state’s Department of Agriculture, at the Lexington Chamber’s Business over Breakfast meeting on March 12, talked of the department's current standings with processing food within the state, agrotourism and new funding for agricultural business grants.

Rep. Paula Calhoon (R-Lexington) introduced Weathers, telling those in attendance that he was born in the state and is a fourth generation farmer himself. Weathers has served as commissioner for 20 years and is an alumni of the University of South Carolina.

She also said that agribusiness is the state's largest industry with over 250,000 jobs and an economic impact of $51.8 billion per year.

Weathers created the Agricultural Business Center for Research and Entrepreneurship that awards over $1 million to 91 agricultural entrepreneurships. Weathers touched on this, stating that the award money goes to the top five to six applicants.

Some people that have been awarded money include a person out in Charleston who was growing vegetables in brackish water, another being a couple in Bishopville who processed their own cotton into products, calling it Covered in Cotton.

As for the department itself, Weathers said it has been around for over 140 years, telling those in attendance that they are responsible for more than just farming and do a lot of things on behalf of residents including general health and food safety.

“We've been in food regulation for over 50 years,” he said. “But the real passion that we have in the department is working with farmers to try to see how this industry can grow even more.”

The commissioner spoke of the certified South Carolina branding campaign that started 15 years ago. The purpose of this is to show residents that when they buy a product with that logo, their food dollars are staying within the state.

One focus of the department is to make more of the processing of agricultural products happen within the state. Weathers stated that they’ve provided money to beef farmers so that they can process their calves here.

A lot of beef farmers will grow their calves up to around 400 pounds before sending them out to finish growing. This means that the calves are then processed and their meat is sent back to South Carolina.

“Why is it important that we have a thriving agricultural industry?” Weathers asked. “Well, we want to eat and when we do that, it helps rural South Carolina as much as any other part of our economy.”

Lexington County is developing fast and it has one of the best agricultural economies in the state. The development of the county, however, does pose a worry as the increasing development is taking away agricultural land.

A way that the department is trying to balance out development and agriculture is by partnering with the South Carolina Farm Bureau and American Farmland Trust. Weathers said that they have started working together to help farmers take advantage of conservation easements, production and more.

The commissioner said that the state has also put some focus toward agrotourism, something that became more popular during COVID-19. This portion of the agricultural business includes activities like pumpkin patches and corn mazes.