(WPDE) — Farmers in South Carolina have started to take advantage of a crop program provided by both the United States Department of Agriculture, as well as the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. In August, the USDA gave $603,000 worth of funding to South Carolina for their Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The grant program would fund projects that establish online marketplaces, studies on certain diseases and chickpeas, and help develop an AI-based agricultural database to monitor crop health. Grants like the crop block are meant to keep farmers involved in the farming industry, encourage them to pursue more land, and grow more local crops. Off of Highway 9 in Loris, Bluefield Blueberry Farms owner Will Duncan has been taking advantage of a reimbursement system of this grant for five to six years. We test all our water, we send it off to an independent lab, once we do that and pay for it we can fill out the paper work to get reimbursed for a portion of that,” said Duncan. It’s called a give back for farmers who are doing the right thing on the field, but also in the store. The grant keeps farmers checking their food and water quality, and even getting information they need to keep their business thriving. When we get certified by the USDA and SCDA,it allows us to sell in more places to do business with bigger vendors more vendors,” said Duncan. Encouragement through reimbursement is meant to keep farmers, farming. The SCDA also wants to keep local fruits and veggies in stores. Farmers can really love to farm, but unless that math works out, they wont be able to keep doing it,” said South Carolina Department of Agriculture communications director Eva Moore. Everyone pitching in as best as they can to keep farmers wanting to be in the business. If it wasn’t for farms, we wouldn’t have food,” said Duncan. Categories: News, State Tags: South Carolina, United States Department of Agriculture, USDA