With the sun shining, bright green plants popping up, and baby animals frolicking in the fields, it would be easy to assume that business is back to normal after the devastation that Lowcountry farmers faced only six months ago with the 1,000-year-flood. But while farmers are looking forward to this season with hope, whether or not the season will deliver remains to be seen.

Reflecting on the months after the floods is brutal. Those of us in the industry had to watch the waters continue to rise long after the much publicized flooding had made national headlines. With ditches and roads washed out, ponds filled to the brim, and the water table saturated, every inch of rain felt like an ocean. The shellfish industry took a major hit with beds closing two days after the season opened, while many livestock producers had to scramble to move their animals to higher ground if there was any to be found. Hundreds of farmers have spent months standing at the edge of their destroyed fields unable to bring equipment in to make repairs, prepare their fields, or plant their next crop, all while the bills continue to pile up.

While farmers are no strangers to the hardships created by weather extremes and market fluctuation, last year was a trifecta of trouble. We had a summer drought, a drop in market prices for commodity farmers, and the worst flood our state has ever seen. Farming is risky and although successful farm businesses plan for the worst, circumstances last year put everyone to the ultimate test. A number of farms shut their doors and many are literally banking on this year’s crops to keep them in business. For those gearing up for the season, one of the biggest challenges will be finding, affording, and keeping labor.

Digging into the reality of farming is something not everyone has the stomach for, but with only one percent of our population farming, it is in our best interest to not only understand the challenges that farmers are facing but to take an active role in ensuring this industry can be a profitable and realistic business venture for the next generation. That, quite literally means, putting your money where your mouth is. Consider this: Despite the growing popularity of the “eat local” movement, South Carolina is still importing over 90 percent of its food. Challenge yourself to eat more locally, sign-up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, and make the farmers’ market a part of your routine. Even more importantly, get educated on the policies impacting our farmers and our food. The industry was facing serious issues long before the rains came and will continue to remain unstable even with an increase in consumer demand.

As the waters slowly recede, residents of South Carolina will begin to assess the damage caused by the incredible amount of rain, severe winds, high tides and ultimately the record breaking flooding. For farmers across the state of South Carolina hard decisions will have to be made as they survey their fields and determine, what, if anything can be done to salvage their fall crops.

Few businesses are as vulnerable to natural disasters as farms; their inventory and assets are exposed to the elements, unable to move or evacuate. A flooding event like the one South Carolina farmer’s experienced this weekend can literally wash an entire business out to sea. For those not familiar with the day-to-day of farming it is important to understand that in order to grow healthy plants ready for market, farmers must plan their seasons well in advance by ordering fall seeds, inputs (fertilizer, minerals etc.) and materials (row cover, seed trays) while it is still summer. For vegetable farmers, plants are started in greenhouses weeks prior to planting, cover crop is mowed down and incorporated, fields are cultivated and bedded up, irrigation is laid out, fertilizer spread and plants transplanted or direct seeded. All of these steps happen well in advance of planting and are labor and equipment intensive, costing the farmer thousands of dollars and days spent working from sunrise to sunset. And this my friends, is exactly the point in the season in which our farmers founds themselves this weekend before an entire fall season’s worth of rain arrived in less than three days. Local farms are now looking at not only loss of their plants and destruction of their fields but road washouts, equipment and infrastructure damage.

The two most common questions I have received are: “Can’t they just re-plant?” and “Don’t farms have crop insurance?” which unfortunately both have very complicated answers.

Launching a new business is an overwhelming endeavor, especially when the industry requires making a large investment in real estate and infrastructure. In agriculture, accessing land and infrastructure has become such an incredible challenge for new and beginning farmers across the nation that it is listed as one of the top barriers to for being able to break into the industry.

As a state where agribusiness is the largest industry and there are approximately 5 million acres of farmland, it seems as though this should not be an issue in South Carolina. Yet our state is experiencing the same challenges of aging farmers and loss of farmland documented across the nation. Since 2007, South Carolina has lost 1,326 farms representing more than 43,416 documented acres of farmland. In Charleston County, the number of farms has decreased by 20% in the last four years, resulting in the loss of 12% of the region’s farmland. Even more disturbing, the regional numbers are higher and contrary to the national trends, demonstrating serious concern for our state. You can read more about the local issues in this article from the Charleston City Paper. The loss of South Carolina farmland has been the result of a number of reversible factors – the failure of farm businesses to thrive, absence of planning, the lack of a willing and trained workforce, an aging farmer population, and the absence of a relevant support system and adequate resources.

Often upon retirement, a farmer’s options are limited because they are either unable to continue the farming legacy in their family or they are faced with the reality of needing to sell their farmland to provide for themselves and their families. These farms are often well-established, valuable businesses that demand an experienced farmer with the financial capacity and business acumen to buy-out and operate an existing operation. Unfortunately, this is where a major gap exists across the country. The family farm model has been quietly disintegrating over the last two decades as farm children leave the industry is search of more stable careers and corporate farms or real estate development absorb these operations. New farmers entering the market do not have the capacity to take over larger existing operations and struggle to find the smaller affordable acreage equipped with the necessary infrastructure. Without the support system to facilitate farm transition planning, the results are often devastating for older farming operations and daunting to new ones. Unfortunately, the cries for help from farmers and farming advocates for the need to pro-actively address the aging farming population and loss of farmland were not heard until recent years. As the culture of agriculture began to slowly change, the gap between existing and new farmers began to grow.

Where do the mentors go for mentorship? For Eat Local program staff and participants at Lowcountry Local First, the answer lies just across the border in North Carolina. Despite the close proximity, the local food system in our neighboring state to the North is a more matured landscape with thousands of thriving local farms, hundreds of markets, dozens of cooperatives, and an incredible array of farm support organizations. As we envision the future for our own state, North Carolina is an ideal location to seek inspiration. Although the entire state is full of innovative individuals, we chose to focus on the area surrounding the small but mighty town of Saxahapaw, NC that provided a central location for our visits to Burlington, Chapel Hill, Durham, and the rural communities in between.

With the goal of seeing as many models of success as possible, our small group of 7 food system leaders and farmers set-out on the five hour road trip with high hopes. Everyone that received my itinerary had no doubts that our dance card was full for the 3 day trip: 7 meals, 4 farms, 2 coops, 2 happy hours, 1 documentary & barn dance, 1 food hub, and 1 locally grown t-shirt company. We met over 40 new people that included farmers, non-profit managers, chefs, political leaders, advocates, cooperative consultants, produce buyers, coop managers, and all kinds of localists. Thanks to our great friends Eric Henry and Charlie Sydnor as well as the amazing staff of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, we had many warm welcomes and behind the scenes tours.

The first day set the tone for the trip with a beautiful drive through the country, a farm tour, and then a packed Happy Hour at the Eddy Pub and Restaurant. This was not just any location because The Eddy is nestled in theRivermill Village cotton mill restoration project that in addition to the restaurant included a general store, gas station, co-working space, butcher, ballroom, amphitheater, and housing. It seemed as though every person I met during our “North meets South” Happy Hour was both a pioneer and active member of the community right down to the Chef Isaiah Allen from the Eddy, who in addition to being the Executive Chef, also runs Rocky Run Farm with his wife. Don’t even get me started on the foraged honeysuckle panna cotta he sent out as a special treat- that was like a creamy dream wrapped in a cool summer night- I may never be the same. Afterwards, we were able to participate in the first screening of The Last Barn Dance, a documentary about a local dairy farm struggling with the shifting food economy and the reality of trying return to the old ways of bottling their own milk using new technology. This honest and timely documentary set the tone for our trip as we too found ourselves looking for a path to meet the demand for local products without compromising our values and desire to serve the community.

As the trip unfolded, we found ourselves bouncing between locations and exploring projects that ranged from fledging stage to well established, with lessons to be learned from all. The farm stops included Terrastay Farms,Braeburn Farms, Perry Winkle Farms, and Open Door Farms. Our market stops included TS Designs, Company Shops Market, Durham Co-op Market, andEastern Carolina Organics. These farms and markets were demonstrating innovation, cooperation, market access, employee stewardship, and more than anything an incredibly strong sense of community.

We enjoyed delicious farm to table fare at every meal, during which we engaged in lengthy discussions about the differences in the states, the incredible number of sustainable farms and supporting projects, and considered what ideas we could bring home. Although we share a border with North Carolina, the journey to developing a food system as robust as theirs will be a long one.

Charleston is an incredible leader for the South Carolina in the local food movement and is not lacking in incredible accomplishments. The Holy City proven that we can excel in Farm to Table movement from the restaurant perspective, providing those who can afford to dine out with delicious local fare. Residents in the Lowcountry also have access to over 20 farmers markets running every day of the week and a variety of local Community Supported Food program from which to secure vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy, and seafood. Farmers in the area have access to monthly GOODFarming Workshops; aspiring farmers can take part in the Growing New Farmers program as Apprentices in our Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture course or as participants in the Dirt Works Incubator Farm. Charleston has strong local food wholesalers/distributors, an incredible food bank, an emerging farm-to-school program, and some amazing community gardens. There is a long and impressive list of the incredible non-profits, businesses, and universities that are all working tirelessly to fill the gaps in our food system, not just in Charleston but also across the state.

Despite all of these incredible efforts, awareness and access in regards to local food has still only touched a small portion of the population, most of which are actively seeking the knowledge and have the means to access the products. There is still so much opportunity for our community to expand access through institutional sales, cooperative grocery stores, access in food deserts, local food incentives, procurement policies, farmer cooperatives, affordable land access, multi-lingual consumer education, policy reform, advocacy and so much more. Most of these issues will take the collaboration of multiple organizations across sectors working together to create place-based solutions. We will continue to play a role in these conversations and hope to facilitate the forward momentum in some of these areas. Our trip to NC was the first step in understanding the best way forward for our organization and finding inspiration, ideas, and models for the Lowcountry. For now, we will delight in the fact that all of our farmers that attended have already adopted strategies from the farms they visited and we now have an even larger support network for the long road ahead.

Post originally published on June 29th for Lowcountry Local First.

In farming, winter means business.

Farmers and their supporting organizations are reflecting on the end-of-year, evaluating what worked, and planning on how to make the next year even better. Production has slowed down, seasonal markets are closed, and the cold wet weather drives many people indoors, making it the perfect time of year to schedule agricultural conferences. For those of us in the industry, conferences are an opportunity for us to climb out of the trenches and take in the lay of the land, reconnect with our community, and reignite the passion that will sustain us through another year.

From seed-swaps and farm tours to networking sessions and presentations these events are incredible for both farmers and support organizations. The last two years, the conference circuit has provided Lowcountry Local First an opportunity to share our models, resources, and ideas in places as far as Minnesota and Indianapolis to cities as close as Saint Simons Island, GA and Greenville, SC.

Most recently, I joined a number of incredible individuals at the Southern Sustainable Agricultural Working Group conference in Mobile, AL to share resources for new and beginning farmers through a presentation and panel discussion. The panel included two farmers, staff from the National Young Farmers Coalition and myself all sharing best practices and tools for success. The audience was comprised of individuals from over 6 southern states aspiring to farm, growing their new businesses, or providing support to new farmers.

The first take away from the discussion: farming is a business and individuals entering the market need to be equipped with the tools to operate as business owners. Topics included the evaluation of personal skills and resources, understanding budgeting and financials, determining the best market outlets, and knowing when to invest more or change directions.

The second largest theme was the importance of community: finding it, building it, and participating in it. Farming can be a lonely and challenging business, especially for fledgling operations struggling to overcome the barriers facing all start-ups: lack of capital, limited infrastructure, and the balance between the physical and office work. Having a community to lean on for support, ideas, equipment, and socialization can provide the personal and professional resources to help new farmers grow and learn from challenges instead of being hindered by them.

After every conference I am continually struck by how farmers face very similar challenges, regardless of location. LLF’s Eat Local Initiative has developed to help farmers overcome these challenges, which has resulted in a program that is not only relevant for farmers in our area but also provides a model for communities across the Southeast. Leaving the conference, I felt energized about the year ahead and confident that our programs will continue to help farmers find success in their independent businesses.