Clemson Extension would use budget increase to improve research

Clemson Extension intends to use its annual budget allotment from the state to continue to improve research facilities, robotics, food safety and food technology.

The organization’s staff attended a Feb. 13 Senate Finance Committee hearing, asking lawmakers for money to enhance research and services it provides to the state’s agricultural community.

Clemson’s Agriculture Department’s Cooperative Extension Service receives state funding each year to support its research efforts in all 46 South Carolina counties’ agriculture and forestry industries.

Matt Holt, dean of the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences at Clemson University, made the budget request.

“This is really, really important for the work that we do, and without the support of the state and without the support of elected officials, we couldn’t begin to meet all the needs that South Carolinians have for the work that we do,” Holt said.

The organization makes requests annually, but it made a few more this year to meet the emerging needs.

Improving facilities is crucial to maintaining the level of research Clemson aims to conduct, Holt said.

“We really only have about 40% of the space that we probably need,” he said.

But a large portion of the requested funding would go toward hiring new positions.

“Whether it’s extension agents and extension specialists working in food safety and food technology, (we want to) support hiring positions to meet those critical needs,” he said.

The new hires would focus on those areas, especially in the Upstate.

Clemson Extension’s work helps areas that have been lacking, Holt said.

“This would help meet critical labor needs in this industry, as you are all aware, labor shortages in particular, in various segments of agriculture becoming increasingly crucial,” he said. 

Holt specifically mentioned work at the coastal Baruch Institute, a 16,000 acre tract of undeveloped land owned by the non-profit Belle W. Baruch Foundation and used by the state’s research universities. 

Students involved in agriculture, such as Lizzie Murray, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture, think increased research funding would benefit not only the broader community but also their education. 

“I think that with extra focus on that (research) some really cool work could be done, because we have a really good groundwork, in my opinion,” she said 

Both students and faculty are passionate about continuing to conduct high quality research at Clemson. 

“I think we could do some really good work,” Murray said.