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S.C. agriculture commissioner going 'Dutch'

South Carolina's interim agriculture commissioner is coming home to Bowman n and he's bringing some guests.

Less than a month after his appointment by Gov. Mark Sanford, Hugh Weathers will be the host for 35-member Dutch delegation on a tour of the state's agriculture on Tuesday.

Coordinated by Case Dorresteyn of New Horizons Agriculture LLC in Madison, Wis., the tour is intended to provide educational information to the group about South Carolina agriculture and agribusiness, particularly the dairy industry.

No wonder then the dairy farm owned by Landy and Hugh Weathers is the first stop on the tour. Weathers Farms Inc. is a 650-cow dairy operation with peripheral businesses involved in bulk milk delivery to more than 30 dairies and row cropping to generate feed for cows.

From Bowman, the delegation will visit Carolina Nurseries located on 730 acres in Moncks Corner. The tour will end at the historic and active farming operation of Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant.

The Netherlands is a small low-lying country. About half of its land mass is below sea level. Land is scarce, and the Dutch are looking for new opportunities abroad.

"We're showing our Dutch visitors how we farmed in the 1600s and how we're farming today," Weathers says. "We want them to know that our climate is great, our people are friendly, our work ethic is strong, and our quality of life is the best. But, most of all, we want them to know that South Carolina's open for business n particularly agribusiness."

Today, Weathers will be focused on peanuts, conducting a tour of buying stations in Cameron (Palmetto P-nut) and Bowman (Severn P-Nut Co.).

Because of the demise of the Peanut Program with the 2002 Farm Act, anyone can now grow peanuts. The USDA-South Carolina Ag Statistics Service predicts production in the state will reach 102.3 million pounds, up 77 percent from a year ago.

Ag Statistics also predicts yield per acre at 3,100 pounds will be 300 pounds per acre below the 2003 yield. Acreage for harvest, at 33,000, is up 16,000 acres from last year. As of the week ending Sept. 19, the peanut harvest is 21 percent complete with the crop remaining in fair to good condition.