DATE:     9/24/99   
CONTACT:  Russell Duncan (843) 423-8285
WRITER:   Giles Singleton, (864) 656-3876

Marion Man named S.C. Farmer of the Year 

     MARION --  Blake McIntyre III of Marion has been named the
1999 Lancaster/Sunbelt Expo Farmer of the Year for South
Carolina.
     McIntyre joins seven other Southeastern farmers chosen to
represent their home states. One of the eight winners will be
named the Lancaster/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the year
during the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition scheduled for
Oct.19-21 in Moultrie, Ga.
     McIntyre, 57, has been farming for 33 years. He first became
interested in farming when he was a child. At age 24, he began to
farm with 30 rented acres.
     Currently he farms almost a thousand acres and works
full-time as a lead operator at Smurfit Stone paper mill. He
grows corn, wheat, soybeans, tobacco, oats, rye, hay and timber,
and has cow-calf and swine farrowing-to-finish operations.
     McIntyre was chosen state winner during judging by the
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. He was
nominated by Russell Duncan, county agent in Marion County.
     "My daddy always farmed a little bit, but when I was young,
about four, I got to stay at my aunt's farm," McIntyre said.
"Back then, they grew a lot of corn to feed the mules, and
tobacco and cotton."
     He added, "I was surprised to get the award, because I
always farmed and worked another job.
Now people where I work have a better idea of what I do." 
     Over the years the Clemson University Cooperative Extension
Service has been very helpful to him, McIntyre said. Duncan, his
county agent, keeps him well informed and helps solve problems,
through personal contact and e-mail. The specialists at Clemson
University's Pee Dee Research and Education Center also help.
     One result of Extension's information and assistance,
McIntyre said, is that he has had pretty good crops this year,
considering the drought.
     "Blake is a farmer who attends Extension and other
educational programs and tries to use what he learns in his
operation," Duncan said. "He has been very successful with
marketing, especially his grain CROPS, and he uses Clemson's Soil
Testing Lab to advantage. Blake is a very good Extension
cooperator; he's also well-respected by his peers."
     McIntyre has served on the S.C. Corngrowers Association
board of directors and on the Marion County Extension
agricultural program committee. In four of the past six years, he
was second place winner in the state level of the National
Corngrowers Association contest, conventional tillage category.
     He is married to the former Patricia Coleman. They have two
daughters, Susie and Patricia, who are teachers, and one son,
Blakely, who lives at home.
     As the South Carolina winner, McIntyre will receive a cash
award from Swisher International.
The Southeastern Farmer of the Year will be named during the
Willie B. Withers luncheon on Oct. 19 at the Sunbelt Expo. The
regional winner will receive $12,500. Swisher International and
the Sunbelt Expo are sponsoring the award for the tenth
consecutive year.
     McIntire joins fellow winners Eugene Glenn of Hillsboro,
Ala.; Doug Holmberg of Valrico, Fla.; Bob McClendon of Leary,
Georgia; Wayne Bush of Schlater, Miss.; Earl Hendrix of Raeford,
N.C.; Eugene Pugh Jr. of Halls, Tenn., and Ernest Copenhaver of
Meadowview, Va.
     Recent S.C. Farmer of the Year winners include: Jerry Edge
of Conway, 1998; David W. Drew of  Mullins, 1997; Randy Lovett of
Nichols, 1996; William Greg Hyman of Conway, 1995; Ron Stephenson
of Chester, 1994; Henry Elliott  Sr. Andrews, 1993; Robert E.
Connelly Sr. of Ulmer, 1992; Charles Snowden of Hemingway,  1991;
and  C.E. Thrailkill of Fort Lawn, 1990.
     Stephenson went on to be named  Southeastern Farmer of the
Year for 1994.
                         END