SC Gov Candidates Promise Agriculture Leadership

BRUCE SMITH

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Six candidates running for governor agreed Friday that agribusiness is crucial to South Carolina but each told an audience of farm and business leaders he has the best vision for the $34 billion industry.

From biofuels to better planning, six of the 10 gubernatorial candidates shared their views at the state's annual Agribusiness Summit.

The summit, sponsored by the Palmetto Institute, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research group, focused on the goal of growing agribusiness to a $50 billion industry by 2020.

Columbia lawyer Dwight Drake, Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod and state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, all Democrats, attended as did Republicans Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, state Sen. Larry Grooms and Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Sheheen promised he would include the agriculture commissioner in cabinet meetings and "work to reinvent the historic mission of Clemson University."

He said he would restore cuts made to the Clemson Extension "which in my opinion has been one of the worst things to happen in state government over the past several years."