Clemson welcomes New and Beginning Farmer Class of 2012

Published: October 4, 2011

COLUMBIA — Clemson University welcomes a new crop of South Carolina farmers Tuesday and Wednesday when the latest class of the New and Beginning Farmer program meets for the first time.

During the eight-month-long program, 56 budding farmers from across the state will take agriculture-specific entrepreneurship classes, develop marketing and business plans, be offered internship opportunities and takes tours of established farms.

The Class of 2012 includes a former civil engineer and commercial real estate broker from Bluffton, a former building inspector from Loris and a former S.C. Highway Patrol investigator from Marion.

The class typically is made up by people who are looking for a change of career because of retirement, layoffs or other reasons.

The program’s goal is to grow sound business managers, environmental stewards and successful marketers, said R. David Lamie, an associate professor and Extension specialist at the Clemson Institute for Economic and Community Development who runs the program.

“The New Farmer program provides the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful entrepreneurs,” he said.

S.C. New and Beginning Farmer is a statewide multi-agency partnership supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant No. 2010-03113.

Clemson is assisted by primary partners Lowcountry Local First and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. 

The partnership also includes the S.C. Department of Agriculture, S.C. Farm Bureau, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency, and S.C. Young Farmers and Agribusiness Association.

This is the second class in the program. The inaugural Class of 2011 graduated in July. The class included a former national television executive from Charleston County and a turkey farmer from Piedmont.

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