Chalmers R. Carr III, owner, president and chief executive officer of Titan Farms in Ridge Spring, SC, one of the larger peach growers in the Southeast, has been named to a prestigious national advisory group by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Carr was appointed to represent plant commodity producers and will serve a three-year term ending in fall 2017 on the 25-member National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education & Economics Advisory Board.Chalmers R. Carr III

“I was extremely honored to be appointed to the NAREEE Board, especially since my Alma Mater, Clemson University, submitted my name to the USDA,” Carr told The Produce News.  “I look forward to working with the committee and giving them input from the grower’s perspective. With my background in farming, especially specialty crops, farm labor, immigration and interaction with land-grant universities, I hope I can bring the voice of the American producer to the issues handled by this committee. “

It’s exciting for South Carolina to be represented on the NAREEE board, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers said in a statement. “I know Chalmers will serve our state and country very well. He has already been a strong voice for agriculture at the state and national level.”

The advisory board helps set key national priorities for food and agricultural research for the secretary of agriculture and for land-grant colleges and universities. Also, it holds public hearings, reviews guidelines for competitive grant programs, conducts an annual review of activities funded by the department and helps develop the department’s strategic plan. The next board meeting will be in the spring on a date and at a place to be scheduled, according to Michele Esch, executive director of the NAREE board.    

Carr earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Clemson University and serves on the South Carolina Agriculture Commission. He is treasurer of the South Carolina Peach Council, chairman of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Labor Committee, on the board of the Palmetto Agribusiness Council, president of National Peach Council and president of USA Farmers (a national organization of growers using the H2A Guest Worker Program). Carr is past chairman of the American Farm Bureau Labor Committee.

Carr began his farming career in 1990 in Madison, FL, growing peaches and vegetables. He and his wife, Lori Anne, came to Ridge Spring, SC, in 1995 to manage R. W. DuBose & Sons, a local grower. They leased the farm in 1999, changed the name to Titan Farms, and bought it in 2001. Titan Farms stretches over 15 square miles of Edgefield, Saluda and Aiken counties in South Carolina and has expanded from 1,500 acres of peaches to 5,400 acres growing 56 varieties of peaches.

In addition to peaches Titan Farms grows 400 acres of Bell peppers and 360 acres of broccoli annually, using high-tech farming and a work force of about 500 workers.  The Carrs have two children, Chalmers IV and Carly Anne.