Tractors and crops are familiar sights on South Carolina farms, but at Four Oaks Farm Store in Lexington, agriculture has taken on a new look.

“We still sell local meat, we make our own sausage, we make a lot of salads — we’re kinda transitioning into more prepared foods,” said Michael Mathias, manager of Four Oaks Farm and a fourth-generation member of the family business.

Before it became a country store, Four Oaks was a working family farm known for raising hogs and selling feed and seed.

But as the cost of equipment and labor grew, the Mathias family found a new focus.

“Just the expenses of equipment and labor — it was easier to bring the family here and focus on building the retail establishment,” Mathias said.

That shift is reflected in a larger trend across the U.S.

From 2023 to 2024, the number of farms nationwide decreased by almost 15,000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

South Carolina also lost more than 2,000 farms between 2017 and 2023.

“The reality is there are very few full-time farmers left in our state,” said Sam Quinney, the director of agricultural outreach from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. “There’s no hiding the fact that farming in general is a tough trade — it’s very stressful.”

Quinney said the financial struggle is a key factor, with input costs for fertilizer and machinery rising more than 200% in the past two decades.

To stay afloat, many family farms are branching out into retail and event hosting.

For Four Oaks, they make most of their business around the holidays, especially with their gift boxes that are sold throughout the country.

“People are seeing that opportunity and potential to have that extra income coming in so they can keep their farms afloat,” Quinney said.

For the Mathias family, the move from field to retail hasn’t changed the farm’s identity — just how it grows.

“We take a lot of pride in what we have,” he said. “I’m the fourth generation, and we actually have a fifth generation coming in soon, so that’s pretty neat.”

While family farms across the country plow through these times and changes, Four Oaks Farm is still growing, just in a different form.