OPENING THE COMMUNICATION LINES WITH AGRICULTURISTS

Oconee’s new agricultural advisory board further opened the line of communications with those in the business of putting food on the plate of Americans and others in the world. A rancher-farm listening session ran nearly 90 minutes last night in the chambers of the Oconee County Council. And the listening session came on the same day that a representative of the Oconee Economic Alliance announced that, for the first time, the office that recruits and helps keep business and industry in the community has included agriculture as one of the components of its annual trend publication. Last night Rex Blanton, chairman of the agriculture advisory board, presided and invited comment. One of the speakers, Ken Martin of the Georgia-based poultry producer Fieldale Farm Corporation talked about some of the differences in poultry regulations between South Carolina and nearby Georgia.