Three months ago, Hugh Weathers left his family’s dairy to become the state’s agriculture commissioner.

While his brother and a trusted, longtime employee run the dairy, Weathers oversees a state agency with 140 employees and a $5 million budget.

While it’s not the biggest department in state government, agriculture accounted for $1.7 billion in cash receipts last year, Weathers said.

Weathers, who never ran for public office, accepted the appointment from Gov. Mark Sanford. The appointment was made after commissioner Charlie Sharpe was suspended because of federal charges of extortion, money laundering and lying to investigators about a cockfighting operation.

As interim ag commissioner, Weathers serves until Sharpe’s legal troubles are resolved or until the next election for the office in 2006.

QUESTION: How hard was it to come into the office after your predecessor was suspended?

ANSWER: I have not let that influence how I’ve tried to approach my job. As I’ve said more than one time, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances.

QUESTION: After taking office, what was your first order of business?

ANSWER: Wayne Mack, a senior staff member, had been acting commissioner. For six weeks, the staff did not have a clear indication of what the new commissioner would want. I first sat down with them to get a sense of the department’s missions and priorities. ...

We have several divisions, and I met with all of them. We have the administrators here in the Wade Hampton building and the lab and consumer services. We have three farmers markets, and I went to all three to meet the staff and talk about how to proceed. ...

The first week or two here, I was told it was the 125th year of operation. ... I said we ought to have a party. We had one on Dec. 1 to celebrate 125 years of the agriculture department. ...

QUESTION: When you took office, you remarked that there was “a lot of work to be done.” What issue did you tackle first?

ANSWER: I’ve been analyzing the options for the farmer’s market on Bluff Road. It’s a lot of coordinating with different groups of people. ... It dawned on me if this has been lingering for 10 years, I don’t have the ability to do something about it in two or three months. I need to be patient. My primary obligation is to the agriculture community. If we make a move, it’s not just to move but it’s got to improve the farmers market.

Then, we’ve got the tobacco buyout. I’m responsible for managing South Carolina’s participation in the buyout. I need to make sure growers are aware of the progress and issues. It will be changing the tobacco system in this state. We have been using the tobacco quota system for 70 years and it’s gone. It changes a way of life. ...

Another issue with the staff is the state retirement plan made available years ago. Several employees took it so in 2006 a number of employees will be retiring. We need a transition plan for the department. About 30 percent of the staff will be eligible or taking their retirement through the program.

QUESTION: Gov. Mark Sanford has said the agriculture commissioner, along with several other state officers, should be appointed by the governor rather than elected by the people. You’ve said you agree with this position. Why?

ANSWER: We both had discussions about this before I was appointed. Gov. Sanford wanted a like-minded person in this office.

It applies to other constitutional offices such as treasurer, comptroller general and adjutant general. We could have specific qualifications to apply to the individuals who hold office.

With an appointed person, we could have criteria in place for the elected governor to follow in making his selection.

As it stands, there are no criteria in place. Most of those elected to office bring qualifications, but it’s not in the law.

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307 or nophillips@thestate.com.