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Happy Birthday SCDA

Gov. Mark Sanford talks with a Spartanburg County farmer Leroy Self about new features on tractors such as the John Deere 7420.

COLUMBIA — The birthday card was 3 feet tall and 4 feet long. The birthday cake 4 feet tall and 8 feet long. Ice cream flowed by the gallons.

The occasion and reasons to celebrate were just as large.

Smiling faces and words of praise were the norm Wednesday as South Carolina Department of Agriculture officials, Gov. Mark Sanford and family and friends gathered at the State Fairgrounds' Moore Building for a historic birthday bash celebrating the department's 125th year.

"We would be hard pressed to find products in our daily lives that don't have some connection to agriculture," interim state Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said. "The department has a role that it plays for you."

Weathers highlighted the department's scope of duties, from the promotion of state agricultural products to the certification and registration of state gasoline pumps to the collection and sampling of feed.

"Agriculture and the industry is important to us and the Department of Agriculture is important to that industry," Weathers said.

"If you look at the Department of Agriculture, what you are looking at is 125 years of focus on something that is incredibly important to South Carolina," Sanford told the gathering. "When you look at agriculture, it is an unrecognized giant with regards to economic development in our state."

Sanford noted that roughly 20 percent of sales in the state are tied to agriculture, about 20 percent of the state's income derives from agriculture, about 500,000 jobs are directly tied to sector and about $15 billion a year in income.

"This birthday is about recognizing agriculture's significance to South Carolina," Sanford said. "It's about recognizing that agriculture in many ways changes. The agriculture of the 1800s is not the agriculture of 2000."

Quoting a Thomas Jefferson letter written in 1785 about the importance of agriculture, Sanford also noted agriculture is a life-teacher.

"One of the things my wife and I are trying to teach our four boys is the law of the harvest," he said. "This notion that you will reap what you sow."

Horry County farmer Sid Thompson descended upon the historic occasion in a spirit of gratitude for all the department has done, particularly in the equine industry. Thompson raises grain as feed for his daughter's show horses and has had farming in his blood since 1830.

"They (the department) have been a tremendous supporter of needed information and service to the farmers as far as keeping farmers updated on their latest methods of chemicals and fertilizers and treatments," Thompson said. "I am really excited about the equestrian survey and the impact that it is really having on the state. It is something we really need to put a lot more emphasis on as far as returns."

S.C. Farm Bureau President David Winkles praised the department's ability to change with the years.

"When we talk about marketing and our farmers markets and the consumer issues on weights and measures, it really comes home as to how important the department still is to the average South Carolinian," Winkles said.

Third-grade students from Calhoun County's Guinyard Elementary School were among those in attendance at the birthday party. The students took advantage of the free cake and ice cream, but also used the opportunity as a learning experience.

Nine-year old Ashleigh Davis said she learned about all the things that have been done and are currently being done in the world of agriculture.

"I am excited that we got to come here and see ... some of the pictures of 125 years ago," Davis said, adding that the visit coincides with classroom instruction. "We are learning how agriculture was a profitable thing. We learned about tenant farmers."

Third-grader Zakia Washington said she will always remember "the railroad was the Best Friend of Charleston."

"We learned how they would carry crops on the trains," she said.

As part of the celebration and in light of the Christmas season, the South Carolina Christmas Tree Association provided locally grown trees that were decorated by the state's S.C. FFA Chapters.

The trees were later judged and donated to the Salvation Army to be presented to the less fortunate.

Barnwell County's FFA received a third-place award for its decorative abilities. Second place went to the Golden Strip chapter and first went to the Lexington chapter. Gilbert and Rock Hill chapters received honorable mentions.

Cake and ice cream were not the only treats for attendees at Wednesday's 125th birthday bash.

The old and not-so-old agricultural and non-agricultural equipment was on showcase. A gray 1930 model A automobile, a 1952 John Deere Model G, a 1939 Johne Deere S/N8868 and a 1930 Ford Model A truck were showcased.

Newer models included a 727 AZ-track 54-inch cut, 23-horsepower John Deere and a 7420 135 horsepower John Deere (of which Gov. Sanford jokingly mentioned that he would like to see under his Christmas tree Dec. 25.) The governor had an opportunity to sit and further admire the vehicle following the program.

About 23 exhibits from the S.C. equine industry, State Farmers Market, S.C. Peach Council and others were on hand distributing information about their respective departments and organizations.

* T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.