Vilsack, Spratt visit Darlington County farms

By John D. Russell
scnow.com
October 18, 2010

DARLINGTON - Rural economic development and job creation efforts were reasons for a visit from U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Congressman John Spratt to the Pee Dee on Monday.

Vilsack said a main purpose of his visit was to reinforce the importance of developing a strong rural economy.

A couple of ways to do that is to explore biofuel production, improve conservation and link local production to local consumers.

The first stop of the visit was to the home of Lamar Collins in Darlington County to discuss a bioenergy digesting plant that uses poultry litter to produce energy.

The second stop, also in Darlington County, was at Galloway Farms. There, Vilsack, Spratt and local agricultural leaders participated in a roundtable discussion to hear concerns from local farmers.

One of the hot topics of discussion was the formation of the 2012 Farm Bill that covers a wide range of support for farmers of all types, but is not limited to just farming.

Vilsack has been secretary for just more than 18 months and this was his third visit to South Carolina. He said he chose to visit South Carolina for the kind of agricultural diversity its has that many other parts of the country don’t have.

“(Agricultural diversity) creates a lot of issues to try to formulate a farm bill in 2012 and to address the issues that each producer has,” he said. “You also have a small amount of dairy and livestock here, as well, so it’s a representative sampling of all kinds of crops.”

Spratt said rural development is a key component to the farm program and Vilsack has seen instances of in the Pee Dee during the visit to South Carolina.

“It lets him understand from firsthand knowledge, seeing it himself, what the programs he administers in Washington are doing to the local economy,” the congressman said.

Ray Galloway owns Galloway Farms, which produces soybeans, tobacco, cotton, corn and beef cattle. He said everyone should know how important rural America is to the economy.

“People need to know that we provide very reliable, cheap food for the American customer and we all need to work together for the betterment of our economy,” Galloway said.