Agribusiness

Still Growing After All These Years
Ag-related businesses harvest bountiful results with new products and services

Workers at McCall Farms pit peaches for canning. South Carolina ranks second nationally in peach production.

The basics of farming may not have changed much over time, but what comes from the land in and around Florence County certainly has.

Novel items such as yard-ready turf are supplanting some familiar crops like tobacco. Meanwhile, farmers still in the business of producing fruits and vegetables are finding new and inventive ways to get them to market, ensuring healthy agricultural growth for the region.

Consider McCall Farms Inc. in Effingham. What began as a working farm in 1838 grew into a canning operation by 1954 and now produces about 70 different canned fruits and vegetables. Most recently, it expanded with a line of frozen foods under its Margaret Holmes and other brands, says Sales Manager Woody Swink.

“We thought the timing was right to get into the freezing business because it really is a perfect fit,” Swink says. “This is great diversification for us.”

By the time the new product line became reality in February 2007, the company had invested $3.9 million and begun the process of adding 45 employees to the 200 already on staff.

Initial consumer reaction has been favorable. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’ll be maximizing our facility in about 24 months,” Swink says. “We’ll probably be freezing 35 to 40 different vegetables. This is going to make us a more solid company.”

Where the Grass Is Greener

Also in a growth mode is Dargan Turf Farm, which is producing grass on land where tobacco once sprouted. The farm produces several kinds of turf, including Bermuda, centipede and St. Augustine, says Edwin Dargan, who owns and operates the farm along with his son, Ned.

“I’d always thought about getting into this, and when my son finished at Clemson University and came back to work with me, he wanted to try it too,” Dargan says. “The tobacco situation wasn’t looking too promising, so we got into something we figured would be a good replacement.”

Dargan sells primarily to landscapers but also does some business with homeowners. “Whoever calls up and wants it,” he says, “can come and get a few pieces or a whole truckload.”

Straw Into Money

Ground cover also is big business at East Coast Erosion Blankets, which set up shop in a former tobacco warehouse in Lake City in 2006. The Pennsylvania-based company, which has 15 employees locally, produces erosion-control blankets and mats. It serves the Southeast market as well as Puerto Rico and Mexico, says Plant Manager Mark Hancock.

“We have a lot of farmers bringing us the wheat straw we need, so there’s no problem at all with raw materials,” Hancock says. “The business is steady, and everyone here was very helpful in getting us started.”

All of this development takes money, of course, and ArborOne is one company making sure that agricultural entrepreneurs have ready access to capital. The lender, which began in 1917 as Pee Dee Farm Credit, sends its loan officers into the field, effectively using the farms as branch offices, says Jack Shuler, president and chief executive officer.

As for the company’s actual headquarters, a new, $3 million building is scheduled for occupancy in early 2008 on Woody Jones Boulevard in Florence, Shuler says.

“We’ve completely outgrown our existing facility,” he says. “We’re managing about $875 million in loans and assets, and we’re in one of the most active agribusiness areas of South Carolina.

“Our customer base is full-time farmers, part-time farmers and people who are just looking to buy large or small tracts of land for recreational purposes or just to live out in the country.”

Also investing in the area’s agribusiness future is the Pee Dee Research and Education Center of Clemson University, which sits on 2,300 acres in Florence and Darlington counties. Among other things, its staff is studying how to produce pharmaceuticals from plants.

Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Ian Curcio