Agriculture commissioner candidates talk about hemp production, protecting farm land

<p>S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers faces opposition from challengers Emile DeFelice and David Edmond during the general election on Tuesday.</p><p>Note: In some cases, candidate responses were edited for length and style. Edmond did not respond to the Herald-Journal’s questionnaire.</p><p>Question: Several studies suggest South Carolina is on the brink of metropolitan sprawl. Do agricultural lands across the state need to be protected? If so, how can it be done and what is the Agriculture Commissioner’s role in doing so?</p><p>DeFelice: Good question, that’s an important issue. I’d say we’re rather past the brink. Sprawl affects our major towns and many small ones. Agricultural and conservation easements offer good incentives for landowners. With leadership we could do in our small towns what Charleston has done – use great food to attract tourists, who attach a monetary value to our open spaces. What happened in Greenville and Charleston came about because of people like me — small farmers, millers, chefs — chipping away at it for decades — not a government program or a state bureaucracy.</p><p>Weathers: I am very proud of the work the Conservation Bank of S.C. has done to put land under conservation easement. Thirty percent of the land involved has been agricultural use. It should be noted that, in South Carolina, unlike some neighboring states, the decline in tillable farmland has actually reversed in the past 10 years.</p><p>Q: Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill permitting the industrial growth of hemp in June and tasked the Department of Agriculture with developing regulations and permitting for the crop. What is the potential for industrial hemp in South Carolina, and how should it be regulated?</p><p>DeFelice: Hemp was good enough for our forefathers, and it’s even better for us. Farmers need freedom to compete in every arena, and a useful plant commonly traded around the world is obvious. I applaud Gov. Nikki Haley’s sensible action. Weathers doesn’t get energy. His chosen state vehicle is Mexican-made Chevrolet Avalanche that runs on mandated Obama-corn. Let’s manufacture hemp ethanol and biofuels and trade that Chevy for a locally-made BMW. Hemp even reduces our dependence on coal and nuclear fuel. Again: leadership. Hugh’s leadership record in three words – State Farmers’ Market. A $100 million train wreck. Enough is enough.</p><p>Weathers: That is very much an unknown. Federal law allows hemp production only under the direction of research and development at a qualified land grant institution. There are some contradictions with the state law that have to be reconciled before we’ll know the potential of hemp.</p><p>Q: As a growing number of people try to transition to a healthy lifestyle and clean eating, what is/needs to be done to protect the integrity of South Carolina’s agricultural crops from chemical and disease contamination?</p><p>DeFelice: Hugh serves his good old boy network and multi-national corporations who’ve no interest in changing the status quo they profit from. They’ve never met a chemical they didn’t love. Why so much cancer? Why suddenly all these allergies? Why are bees dying? These are important conversations. Yet Hugh is nowhere to be found. He spends his time trying to ban or discolor raw milk, letting a potato chip company from Michigan ruin a river, spending obscene amounts on the failed market and it’s marketing — even $17,000 to spruce up his office. We can do better.</p><p>Weathers: Precision farming has allowed production of food with less application of inputs and actually less water to produce greater yields. This, and other technological advancements in agriculture, will provide for a safe food supply for our consumers. The Department of Agriculture trains farmers in Good Agricultural Practices so that the proper protocols are followed at all times.</p>

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Agriculture commissioner candidates talk about hemp production, protecting farm land