USDA appoints Gov. McMaster staffer to lead South Carolina farm service agency
Cody Simpson, who has served as an assistant to Gov. Henry McMaster, has a new job in the Trump administration.
Simpson, who has worked in the governor’s office since 2018, has been named as the state executive director for the South Carolina Farm Service Agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He will be in charge of planning, organizing, and administering +the agency’s programs through state offices
His most recent role was as the chief executive assistant and agriculture advisor to McMaster. He was traditionally by the governor’s side during public appearances as the governor’s body man sometimes and coordinated photo lines during appearances.
Simpson, 33, in a statement said he was honored to have the job.
“As a fifth-generation South Carolina family farmer, I understand firsthand the opportunities and challenges facing our agricultural community,” Simpson said in a statement.
At Simpson’s family farm in Clarendon county, they grow corn, wheat and soybeans.
Simpson also serves on the S.C. Forest Recovery Task Force and serves as a major in the S.C. State Guard.
He is member of the National Governors Association’s Land Management, Agriculture, Wildlife, and Rural Communities Advisory Network.
“Cody knows our state and he knows our people,” McMaster said in a statement. “His work in my office has given him invaluable experience and insights into how state and federal agencies work — and how they could work better — to serve all segments of our farming communities. Family farmers and foresters throughout South Carolina will have a new champion in Cody Simpson.”
Simpson is following another person with State House connections.
The job Simpson is taking over was held by Laurie Funderburk during the Biden administration. Funderburk was a state representative from 2004 to 2020.
With Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers not running for reelection, it had been speculated Simpson would make a bid for the job. So far, the only person to launch a bid for that job is Fred West, a Lexington County businessman.
When asked about the agriculture commissioner position, Simpson said he is focused on serving farmers.
“What we have looked at is staying very focused on wanting to achieve what President Trump has asked us to do and that is to put America first, put our farmers first,” Simpson said in an interview on Monday. “So that’s what we’re trying to do to bring prosperity back to our rural communities.”
Simpson’s appointment was among the 51 appointments announced by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Also appointed to a federal agriculture role in South Carolina was Jacob French. He will serve as state director for South Carolina rural development.
During Trump’s first term, French worked at the Office of Food Safety and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade Relations. Most recently, French served as the Growth and Outreach manager for Tyler Technologies in South Carolina.
“When America’s farming communities prosper, the entire nation thrives. This new group of USDA appointees will ensure President Trump’s America First agenda is a reality in rural areas across the country,” Rollins said in a statement. “I am grateful for the leadership of these new state directors and look forward to their work reorienting the agency to put farmers first again.”
