Dear Gov Haley: Farming is unlike any other industry

Gov. Nikki Haley says she can’t support our farmers in the aftermath of the October floods because she wants to treat every industry fairly. Well, let me tell you: Farmers aren’t a typical industry.

Our very existence depends our farmers’ ability to keep pace with the demand for food. There is only a seven-day food supply in major U.S. cities, so we can’t afford a disruption in the food chain. We have been blessed in the United States. We have never known famine, and that is because farmers have always been able to out-produce demand, even through flood and drought.

One day in the late ’70s I asked my daddy why we have all of these programs to supplement the farmers. My daddy, a fifth-generation farmer, a building supply owner and a World War II veteran, said: “Son we must have a surplus of food. It is what has made this country great and is what will keep it great.” Over the years I have found the words to be so true. While other countries flounder, our food source has remained constant.

I do not believe our governor understands the finances of farming. Many of our farmers will not only forgo a whole year’s gross income, but they also will have nothing to invest in next year’s crops. (Often, crop insurance does not cover floods.) Many with debts from the previous year will be foreclosed on, and generational farms will be sold to Wall Street-traded land companies. Those lucky enough to keep their homes will likely become sharecroppers.

I do not think the governor understands our deep-rooted connection to the land. For almost 300 years now, our land has sustained us. When all else was stripped away, through wars and financial depression, our land kept us alive.

I applaud the governor’s efforts to bring jobs to South Carolina, but it is our farmers who have been the backbone and moral compass of South Carolina. Many Main Streets have already been taken over by the coldness of the corporate world; our family farms are the last stand. If we turn them over to the corporate world, we will be at the mercy of the greed of Wall Street.