Small farmers in some of South Carolina's poorest areas got an early Christmas present last week.

The Palmetto Agribusiness Council announced it is putting $99,000 into an effort to help small agribusinesses market their products.

The money is coming from a USDA Rural Business Enterprise grant that the council was awarded in June.

Plans are to launch the Marketing and Technical Assistance Program before the end of the month.

The council will identify and work with small agriculture producers in Allendale, Barnwell, Chester, Chesterfield, Dillon and Marlboro counties. The council, a nonprofit association, represents agribusinesses throughout the state.

The program was developed as part of the S.C. Council on Competitiveness agribusiness cluster's strategy to boost the economies in rural communities.

It will help producers in economically distressed counties tie into a statewide marketing and branding initiative being developed by the S.C. Department of Agriculture.

The department has $600,000 in state funds to develop and implement a campaign to market the state's agricultural products. The campaign is expected to roll out in the spring.

"Our new branding program for South Carolina agriculture should help consumers identify locally grown and manufactured products and create new marketing opportunities for agribusiness growth and development," said agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers.

The money provided by the agribusiness council will help small, rural agribusinesses "that need assistance in marketing their products under our new statewide branding program," Weathers said.

"In some of our rural counties, agribusiness is the only economic engine available," said council chairman Johnny Williamson. "This program will be an opportunity to increase the profitability of our small agribusinesses and create job opportunities in those areas."

The lack of a concerted marketing program for S.C. agricultural products has become a significant issue among business leaders.

Ed Sellers, chairman of the S.C. Competitiveness Council, has raised the need for the state especially to do a better job of marketing its peach crop, noting that South Carolina produces far more peaches than Georgia. Yet Georgia has for years proclaimed itself "The Peach State."

The council's agribusiness cluster, co-chaired by Jim Roquemore of SuperSod Farms and Bob Scott of the S.C. Forestry Commission, has made a statewide marketing campaign a primary objective.

Even Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, a native South Carolinian, has commented on his faux TV news show, "The Colbert Report," on "the fraud perpetrated by the state of Georgia when it calls itself the Peach State."

The Colbert segment was used in October as an introduction to participants at The Palmetto Institute's inaugural South Carolina Agricultural Summit.

The summit, a meeting of government, business and agricultural community leaders, was an effort to explore the critical role of S.C. agriculture in the global economy.

"Market, Market, Market" was No. 9 on a list of 10 action items that institute founder Darla Moore unveiled at the summit's end.

"How do we build a marketing plan that really works?" Moore said. "It is a question we must address.

"Officials in New Jersey say they get a $68 return on every $1 they invest in marketing for their agricultural products. In my mind, that is a pretty good return. Once again, it is a question of demanding a better program."

The institute is putting together a 30-member agricultural advisory board to help support marketing and other initiatives.