Jeremy Cannon of Turbeville is among two Republicans running for state agriculture commissioner. (Courtesy of Jeremy Cannon’s campaign)
COLUMBIA — A fourth-generation farmer from Clarendon County has joined the race to be South Carolina’s next agriculture commissioner.
Jeremy Cannon of Turbeville becomes the second Republican looking to replace Commissioner Hugh Weathers, who’s retiring after nearly 22 years leading the state Department of Agriculture. Last year, he endorsed a director in the agency, Fred West of Batesburg-Leesville, to succeed him.
West, who launched his bid last January, had been the lone person vying for the $162,000 job, until Cannon announced his run on Facebook earlier this month. It’s the first-ever campaign for both candidates.
Fred West is a former executive at Amick Farms who now works for the Department of Agriculture as director of market development. (Courtesy of Fred West’s campaign)
The job entails overseeing about 250 full-time employees with duties that include promoting the state’s various agribusiness sectors, keeping the food supply safe, and — since 2024 — handling all inspections of places that sell food, such as restaurants and cafeterias.
The agency needs a leader who “feels what rural South Carolina feels, knows what they need and has a plan to do something about it,” Cannon told the SC Daily Gazette this week.
Cannon says that’s him, stressing that he spent his entire life on his family’s farm in tiny Turbeville, a town of fewer than 800 people.
The 44-year-old married father of a teenager believes the agency needs to do more to support rural farmers. His farm grows row crops, including corn and soybeans, along with 30 different kinds of produce, plus raises cattle to sell angus beef.
But it’s become harder for farmers like him to find grocery stores or corn or soybean mills that will buy his products, Cannon said. Struggling farmers are selling their land to developers, he said, reducing the amount of farmland in the state.
Cannon touted himself as the candidate with “real farming experience.” He said he understands the problems rural farmers face and knows how to convince people of the value of buying their food locally.
West said that, while he’s not a farmer himself, the industry has “adopted” him after the decades he’s spent working on the business side.
The 61-year-old married father of two spent 24 years as an executive at the poultry processing company Amick Farms in Batesburg-Leesville. After retiring in 2023 from that job, he began working for the Department of Agriculture as director of market development. He’s also an agricultural liaison to the state Department of Environmental Services.
In his existing role at the agency he wants to lead, he’s focused on expanding the “markets” where farmers can sell their products, and he said he’s built relationships with business owners and convinced them of the value of locally grown food. His experience on the business side of agriculture is just what the job of commissioner calls for, said Cannon, a native of Woodruff.
The South Carolina constitution sets the agriculture commissioner as an elected office. In this historically agrarian state, agribusiness remains a top industry.
And the commissioner tends to keep the job for a while, with one major exception.
In the last century, there have been seven commissioners. The last Democrat, Leslie Tindal, switched parties during his third term, then retired in 2002 after 20 years in the role.
Weathers was appointed to the position in 2004 by then-Gov. Mark Sanford after Charles Sharpe, a former Aiken County legislator, was indicted on federal extortion and money laundering charges less than two years after his win.
In 2005, the former chairman of the state House agriculture committee pleaded guilty to taking a $10,000 bribe to protect a cockfighting ring and was sentenced to two years in prison.
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