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Ongoing coverage of South Carolina's recovery from the flooding of 2015.What had been Lindsay Langdale's Columbia home October 3, 2015 was a flooded ruin the next day.This coverage is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In October of 2015, South Carolina received rainfall in unprecedented amounts over just a few days time. By the time the rain began to slacken, the National Weather Service reported that the event had dumped more than two feet of water on the state. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the subsequent flooding was the worst in 75 years.

SC Farmers Diversify to Weather Lingering Effects of Flood

Vincent Kolb-Lubo/SC Public Radio

  

City Roots workers weigh and package micro greens to be sold in the farm’s  on-site market.
Credit Vincent Kolb-Lubo/SC Public Radio
City Roots workers weigh and package micro greens to be sold in the farm’s on-site market.

  Eric McClam joined his father in 2009 to cultivate and grow City Roots, South Carolina’s first urban farm. The plan was to produce clean, healthy, sustainably-grown products while enhancing and educating the community about the benefits of locally-grown food. After historic levels of rainfall left farmers soaked, the father- son team focused more on micro greens to compensate for the loss of their more traditional staple- vegetables.

Geechie Boy Farm and Mill is located in Edisto Island.
Credit www.geechieboymill.com
Geechie Boy Farm and Mill is located in Edisto Island.

 

 

125 miles away in Edisto Island, another farmer, Greg Johnsman, is also changing the way he farms to compensate for what he and his family lost in the flood. Johnsman is owner of Geechie Boy Farm and Mill. He grows a variety of heirloom vegetables and specialty crops. South Carolina Public Radio’s Thelisha Eaddy talks with both farmers about how they are diversifying their operations to weather the lingering effects of the flood.

According to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, the state has about 25,000 farms, which encompass 4.9 million acres. The agency released a 13-page report outlining the impact the flood had on South Carolina’s annual $3 billion agriculture industry.

Credit www.scstatehouse.gov

  Resources:
South Carolina Department of Agriculture
City Roots Farm
Geechie Boy Farm & Mill

Continuing Coverage:

excerpt_from_south_carolina_headlines_-_mar312016.mp3
An excerpt from South Carolina Headlines, March 31, 2016

Thelisha Eaddy is the local Morning Edition host for South Carolina Public Radio.