DATE:     11/17/00
CONTACT:  Dr. DeWitt Gooden, (843) 662-3526, Extn. 203
          dgooden@clemson.edu
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343
          tlollis@clemson.edu

Philip Morris honors
S.C. tobacco growers

     CHARLESTON -- Three South Carolina tobacco growers 
have been honored for quality crop production.
     Thomas DuRant of Gable, Martin Owens Jr. of Hemingway 
and Steven Edge of Conway received the Philip Morris Award 
of Excellence in Tobacco Production during an awards dinner 
Nov. 16 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.
     The awards program is sponsored by Philip Morris USA 
and conducted by Clemson Extension Service, according to 
DeWitt Gooden, extension tobacco specialist. The program 
recognizes growers between the ages of 21 and 40 for superior 
crop production and community service.
     The winners were chosen by farmers, agricultural 
company representatives and county agents. Each received a 
check for $1,000 and a plaque.
     A fourth generation tobacco producer, DuRant, 38, farms 
in partnership with his father, Norwood L. DuRant Jr. They 
produced about 170 acres of tobacco this year, plus corn and 
soybeans. Dry weather allowed them to plant only 24 acres of 
cotton this year instead of the 450 acres they had planned.
     "Tobacco accounts for about 60 percent of our gross 
farm income," said DuRant, a 1984 graduate of Clemson University 
with a B.S. degree in agriculture mechanization and business.
     He is a member of the S.C. Tobacco Growers Association, 
Farm Bureau and the Clarendon County Festival Committee. He and 
his wife, Jennifer, have three children - Thomas, 9, Joshua, 6, 
and Emily, 2. They are active members of New Harmony Church, 
where DuRant is a deacon. He has been part of the Gideon Ministry 
for two years.
     Owens, 33, farms 12 acres of tobacco on his own, share 
crops another 12 acres, and grows another 37 acres in partnership 
with his father. Their acreage was twice that before the recent 
cut in quota. He and his father also partner on 80 acres of corn 
and 700 acres of soybeans.
     Owens said that tobacco generates 70 to 80 percent of the 
farm income.
     He grew up on a family farm and has been a farmer full time 
since graduating from high school. Owens and his wife, Paulette, 
chose to remodel his grandparents' old home instead of building 
a new house so they could preserve part of the family history.
     They have two sons - Mason, 5, and Parker, 3.
     Owens is a member of the board of directors for Farm Bureau 
in Georgetown County. 
     He also belongs to the Old Mill Bassmaster Fishing Club 
and the Tram Road Hunting Club. The family attends Good Hope 
Methodist Church.
     Edge, 31, farms with his father. They grew 76 acres of 
tobacco this year, along with 600 acres of soybeans, 200 acres 
of corn and 250 acres of wheat. They also have a small beef cow 
herd.
     "Tobacco produces 80 percent of the farm income," said Edge, 
who earned a B.S. degree in business administration-management 
from the University of South Carolina in 1991. 
     He farmed rented tobacco acreage from a retired farmer to 
help pay his way through college.
     Like DuRant and Owens, Edge is concerned about declining 
tobacco acreage and the increasing cost of leasing quota from
individuals who are no longer actively farming.
     Edge is a member of the Farm Bureau board of directors in 
Horry County. He is chairman for the local young farmer 
organization and a director for the Crabtree Watershed. He is 
a lifetime member of Brown Swamp United Methodist Church.
     He and his wife, Darena, have one daughter, Stephanie, 2.
                                END