Investor Presentaiton

Section I Introduction Agribusiness has been at the forefront of South Carolina's economic development for hundreds of years, dating to well before the colonial period of America's history. Today, with nearly 25,000 farms, the Palmetto State is fortunate to have a strong, growing agribusiness cluster based on the abundance of arable land and driven by sophisticated, highly productive, and diversified private enterprise. Agribusiness-related companies and suppliers are currently distributed across every county in the state, including family-owned and operated farms, large scale private farms, livestock producers, major food processors and manufacturers, and wood products producers among others. South Carolina's agribusiness cluster has also seen significant expansion in recent years. As will be shown in this report, the total economic footprint of agribusiness has increased by over 40 percent since 2010, or from approximately $37 billion to $52 billion in total economic activity. Part of this increase has been the result of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture's (SCDA) ongoing efforts to increase production levels of local agribusiness products to satisfy unmet demand among South Carolinians. In 2020, for example, South Carolinians purchased approximately $36.9 billion in agribusiness-related products. However, just 32 percent of these products were grown or manufactured in South Carolina by South Carolina- based firms. As such, despite the significant growth the agribusiness cluster has experienced over the previous decade, there is a significant opportunity for the SCDA to continue to help local businesses capture even more of the existing demand stemming from the 68 percent of agribusiness products that South Carolinians are still purchasing from out-of-state suppliers. The purpose of this research effort is twofold: (1) to provide a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of the agribusiness cluster in South Carolina in order to better understand its size and scope and its importance towards contributing to the state's long- run economic growth; and (2) to specifically examine the degree to which the current demand in South Carolina for individual products in the agribusiness sector is currently being met by out-of-state suppliers. The information obtained from this latter analysis can then be used by the SCDA to establish appropriate long-run strategies that focus on increasing local production of the agricultural goods that will maximize potential gains in economic activity for South Carolina. This study begins by establishing the formal definition of agribusiness in South Carolina to be used in this report; Section III then moves to a discussion of the current economic impact of agribusiness on South Carolina. Next, Section IV quantifies both the unmet local demand of selected product categories within the agribusiness cluster and highlights the economic benefits of expanding production in these categories; finally, Section V provides a brief conclusion. SCDA 18795 CULTURE PAGE 4

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