‘Trump’s farmer’ wins nomination for SC agriculture commissioner

COLUMBIA — The candidate who calls himself “President Trump’s farmer in South Carolina” easily won the GOP nomination to become the state’s next agriculture commissioner.

Cody Simpson won with a lopsided 63% of votes over Danny Ford II, the son of the legendary football coach of Clemson’s 1981 national championship. Ford, whose crops include hemp, touted his first-hand understanding of the plant. But he said it was a crisis at his family’s Upstate cattle farm last year that fueled his bid.

Simpson won every county, according to unofficial state Election Commission results.

Before he even entered the race, Simpson had the endorsement of both Gov. Henry McMaster and President Donald Trump. His campaign quickly broke fundraising records.

Simpson specifically thanked the president and the governor for their support in a statement on social media following his win.

“South Carolina just planted the seeds for a stronger future,” Simpson wrote. “We must — and together, we will — protect our farms, ensure our food security, strengthen our rural communities, and preserve our agricultural heritage. Our momentum is strong, and we’re just getting started.”

The fifth-generation farmer joined McMaster’s office in 2018 as an agriculture adviser and left as chief executive assistant in spring 2025.

That’s when the Trump administration appointed him as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s executive director for South Carolina — a long title he shortened to Trump’s farmer.

Less than 1 percentage point separated Simpson and Ford in the four-way primary June 9.

In an interview with the S.C. Daily Gazette, Ford thanked the people of South Carolina for giving him the opportunity. It was his first bid for office.

“To have never participated in politics before and in three months to do what I did speaks volumes,” he said.

“For me, it was not about the seat. It was about getting out for the farmers,” Ford added. “They’re really in trouble.”

As for Simpson, Ford said he hopes he does a good job, “because our farmers need it.”

Farmers in the fast-growing Palmetto State are feeling more pressure from developers seeking to turn farmland into subdivisions.

The state has lost nearly 290,000 acres of farmland since 2001, according to the state Farm Bureau.

Simpson’s win means November will feature two natives of Clarendon County.

Retiring SC agriculture commissioner has spent 2 decades encouraging people to buy local

Simpson’s family farm is in the unincorporated Home Branch community, where he says he was working at the family general store by age 10.

Democrat DeShawn Blanding, of Manning, is a former policy analyst for the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. Today he works with farm organizations and policymakers on issues tied to food access and rural economic development.

He is the first Democrat to seek the office in 16 years.

Simpson and Blanding are competing to replace Commissioner Hugh Weathers, who’s retiring after 22 years leading the state Department of Agriculture.

The fourth-generation farmer on what was a dairy farm in Bowman was initially appointed to the position in 2004 by then-Gov. Mark Sanford.

The Legislature has dramatically added to the agency’s responsibilities since.

In just the last three years, the agency’s workforce has almost doubled to about 250 full-time employees.

The agency’s duties include promoting the state’s $51 billion agriculture industry and various agribusiness sectors, keeping the food supply safe, inspecting gas pumps, and — since 2024 — handling all inspections of the state’s 24,000 food vendors, including restaurants and cafeterias.

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: Weathers’ appointment followed the indictment of Charles Sharpe on federal extortion and money laundering charges.

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.