Farmers meet with Pee Dee legislators
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Representatives of the South Carolina and Pee Dee area legislative delegations joined local farmers at Mont Clare Baptist Church on January 3 to discuss issues facing agriculture in the coming year.
Legislators in attendance included S.C. House Representatives Robert Williams (District 62), Patricia Moore Henegan (District 54), and Richard L. “Richie” Yow (District 53), and Phillip Gaillard from the office of U.S. Congressman Tom Rice (7th District).
Farmer Alexander Paul organized the meeting to facilitate an exchange of views and information on several farm-related matters, including big changes to laws governing the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
Paul said he felt dismayed about the regulatory changes restricting OTC (over the counter) purchases of medically important feed-grade antibiotics. These products include milk replacers, mineral supplements, and finishing feeds containing therapeutic antibiotics. As of January 1, 2017, these purchases must be made under the direct oversight of a veterinarian.
Also, Paul discussed the difficulty of competing with large-scale commercial agriculture operations – such as Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods – by relating his own experience as a hog farmer.
“I had 300 head of first-class Yorkshire hogs at one time, and the price was good. And all of a sudden, it began to force me out. And prices kept going down and down to where you couldn’t make a profit,” Paul said.
Additionally, Paul said that commodity prices are holding at low rates while the input costs for farmers continue to rise, making it very hard to show a profit on staple crops like corn.
Farmer Frankie Woodard grows cotton, peanuts, soybeans, wheat, corn, and beef cattle on 4,000 acres in the Mont Clare and Swift Creek area. He spoke about how fortunate he feels that both of his sons graduated from Clemson University and decided to return home to work the family land, but noted that his situation is increasingly rare.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the next generation when their children come through. Right now, things are working pretty smooth, but you can’t tell what’s going to happen with their children, nephews and all…That’s what makes it so hard,” Woodard said.
Campbell Coxe, owner and operator of Carolina Plantation Rice, agreed with Woodard about the importance of bringing more young people into agriculture, but acknowledged that farm life presents challenges a group effort.
“It’s good to see people come back to the farm…you don’t see it nearly as much as you used to,” Coxe said. “We’d like to see it be a little more profitable and a little bit better for the kids to have some security coming into farming, knowing that they can make a living doing it. That’s harder and harder nowadays. But maybe we can find some answers together.”
Williams noted that his positions on the S.C. House Agriculture Committee and Legislative Oversight Committee grant him the opportunity to review pending legislation and state departmental activities that may impact farmers. Henegan, Yow, Williams, and Gaillard all encouraged those in attendance to contact their offices whenever issues arise involving farming and ranching because their insight and perspective could help their state and federal representatives make more informed decisions.
Williams closed things out by suggesting that informal meetings between farmers and legislators should become regularly scheduled events, adding that it would be worth working through any scheduling conflicts to keep the lines of communication open.
