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 "We are entering an era of remarkable opportunity, for not just agriculture, but rural America as a whole," Thomas Dorr told about 200 people attending the South Carolina Agricultural Summit on Tuesday.
Dorr, the undersecretary for rural development, said expanding broadband means companies can operate from almost anywhere, while rising oil prices will increase demand for crops used for biofuel.
"If we can displace just 1 billion barrels of imported crude oil, something in the neighborhood of $75 to $100 billion dollars, that alone is a new market for American producers which is greater than today's net farm income," Dorr said.
As for expanding capitalism, South Carolina has already benefited from new Chinese markets, said Frank Brown, the president of MarketSearch, a Columbia research firm.
Farm exports to China increased from only $100,000 in seven years ago to almost $80 million last year. "You don't have to be China's major supplier to have a big impact in the state," Brown said.
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 MarketSearch is working with The Palmetto Institute, the summit's sponsor, on a study of South Carolina agribusiness. Expected to be completed in about six months, it will provide a strategy for the future of agribusiness.
"There needs to be a road map," said Darla Moore, the institute's founder, adding that the state is developing industrial clusters in everything from automotive and aircraft manufacturing to hydrogen fuels.
"The agribusiness cluster may be the one that can have the quickest, most dramatic impact on our economy," she said. "But it will only be successful if have a thoughtful, innovative strategy."
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On the Net:
South Carolina Agricultural Summit: http://scagsummit.com/
[Associated Press; By BRUCE SMITH]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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