S.C. FSA Awards Employee for 50 Years of Service

Laurie C. Lawson, left, state executive director of the South Carolina FSA, awarded Larry Rogers a Certificate of Accomplishment for 50 years of service.

By Murray Dale Watts, FSA regional public affairs specialist

When Larry Rogers was asked if he ever thought he would be with the Farm Service Agency for 50 years he didn’t hesitate in saying “Yes!”

He explained, “It was such a pleasure working with farmers and employees who were veterans from the Second World War that I wanted to work forever and wanted to stay with FSA my entire career.  Over the years I have rejected several good job opportunities in order to stay with FSA and USDA.  In FSA we make a difference in the lives of the farm families and have a direct positive effect on our local economies.”

Rogers’ career began in 1962, with the USDA Farmers Home Administration, the forerunner of the Farm Service Agency. His career has run the gamut, from the county office to the state office and providing training at the national level. While he has enjoyed each of his different assignments, he most enjoys working directly with farmers. His most challenging and perhaps most fulfilling assignment was when he was supervisor in Sumter County, S.C. with the Farmers Home Administration when they led the state in farm loans and the nation in rural housing loans.  Rogers, a graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor of science degree in dairy science, started work in the Sumter office. He moved to the district director position in 1968 and in 1973 he was promoted to the state office in Columbia where he continues to serve.

Rogers was recently honored at a luncheon in Columbia where he was presented a Certificate of Accomplishment from the United States Department of Agriculture by South Carolina State Executive Director Laurie C. Lawson of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.

When asked for advice he would offer new employees, he responded “In my opinion, serving others is the best work in life.  The opportunities which exist within the programs available to our farmers give us a great avenue to help others.  I believe we can make a difference.”

Rogers appreciates the opportunity he has had to serve the agricultural industry in South Carolina for a half-century through the Farm Service Agency but emphasized that he has no plans to retire from a position he enjoys so much. “It is my professional life and I look forward to assisting farmers and other agriculturalists in the years ahead,” Rogers said.

A highlight of Mr. Rogers’ superb leadership as outreach coordinator with the Farm Service Agency is his record of 33 years of consecutive attendance at the state FFA Convention held on the Clemson University campus where he presents the Governor’s Citation of Accomplishment to the top three Gold Emblem FFA chapters in South Carolina.

Presently residing in Sumter, Rogers is married to the former Elise Troy Wood of Mullins and they have two children, a son, Lad, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., who is married to Jennifer Smith of Charleston and daughter Lisa, who is married to Matt Taylor formerly of Jacksonville, Fla., who now resides in Franklin, Tenn., and two grandchildren, Ellie and Perrin.

Rogers is active in his church, the Alice Drive Baptist Church where he serves as a deacon and numerous civic organizations. Some of his activities include past president of the South Carolina Jaycees, two years as general chairman of the Iris Festival in Sumter; listed as one of the 10 Outstanding Young Men of America in 1967 and in the 1967 Outstanding Personalities of the South. He was the past director of the National Foundation of the March of Dimes. Rogers is a member of the Sumter Kiwanis Club and has been a member of the Clemson IPTAY (I Pay Ten A Year) Club for 61 years.