Horry County farms face pressure from drought, residential development

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Farmers across Horry County are seeing impacts as residential development increases and drought conditions continue.

Between drought conditions and development increases, Horry County farmers are seeing a large decrease in farming acres and a change in how their crops are growing.

Moderate to severe drought conditions have caused significant losses for crops such as corn and maize.

Droughts can also cause lower quality and stunted growth for other crops, as farmers have to rely on irrigation.

Development in the county has increased, and land that once held crops has turned into homes.

The rise in property values from these homes has caused nearby farming to be economically unviable.

Britt Carroll, owner of Carroll’s Farm and Produce Stand, said he has seen many farms in the area have to close or sell.

“Yeah, I mean, you see a lot of farmland that has houses on it, you know, where normally there’s the people that I know that farmed the land, you know, 20 years ago, a lot of them has houses on it now, even here where we live at, you know, there’s houses everywhere now,” Carroll said.

Carroll’s Farm and Produce Stand is known mostly for its strawberries.

As droughts and residential development continue across the Grand Strand and Pee Dee, they are one of the luckier farms in these times.

“On the farm, we grow mainly strawberries, which is our biggest thing, but we have squash, zucchini, cucumbers, we grow a bunch of tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, spring onions, pretty much everything,” Carroll said.

Strawberries do better without rain, growing on an irrigation system. While the farm’s main product might grow better in the drought, other produce Carroll would normally sell is not an option.

“I’m really not choosing to not grow it,” Carroll said. “It’s just so dry. I mean, I can’t even plant it yet, you know what I’m saying? We need some moisture in the ground before I can even plant, you know, to make sure that it’s gonna make, you know, a good yield.”

Carroll has been in the business for over twenty years. While his farm has been successful, he said other farmers he knows have not had the same luck.

As Horry County is one of the top hotspots for new development in the state, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture says they are working to help farmers who want to stay in business.

“I think it’s important to know that Horry County has like a long and rich agricultural heritage,” Eva Moore said. “And when people come to South Carolina, we really want them to be able to experience that heritage and know about it. So we want, we want farmers to stay around and we want farmland to stay around.”

The South Carolina Department of Agriculture says farmers seeing issues from the drought should reach out for help, as farmers are an important part of the county.

“I absolutely think it can be beneficial for people in Horry County to know the benefit of having farms around them and having farmland around them,” Moore said.

Farmer Cooperative Growers Alliance, located in Mullins, is looking to help farms in Horry and Marion County in their profitability and viability through times like these.

Some ways they do this include providing food distribution, vacation-supported agriculture, and on-site produce pick-up.

Most recently, the alliance announced a community-supported weekly produce box subscription that will drop off product directly at customers’ doors.

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