CRP was considered a "Godsend" by many South Carolina farmers when it arrived. Crop prices had begun a steady decline in the late 1970's, and farmers had held on by borrowing more money trying to "borrow their way out of debt." Many farmers in grave financial situations were able to enroll portions of their agricultural land in CRP. The CRP rental payments were then...
South Carolina is one of the most rapidly urbanizing States in the Nation. Lee County, on the other hand, is the epitome of the rural South Carolina that is rapidly disappearing. The county, formed from parts of Darlington, Sumter, and Kershaw Counties, has been a major producer of cotton since colonial times. U.S. Senator Ellison Durant Smith (1864-1944), a native of Lee County, was nicknamed...
The Piedmont section of South Carolina has a heavy concentration of non-confined cattle. It is a common practice for cattle to use creeks and streams as a water source. CRP provisions recently expanded to allow enrollment of Riparian Buffers on pastureland located next to permanent water bodies. Initially, there was very little interest in this practice because no alternate water source...
"We liked the results from CRP immediately," said Colonel John Spearman, Army Reservist and full-time South Carolina farmer. John raises diverse crops on the family's gently rolling farm next to the Santee River. When CRP came along, he enrolled some poor quality fields once used for crop production....
