By Anna Mitchell

Thursday, June 30, 2011

CLEMSON — For the ninth straight year, Clemson University's agriculture researchers avoided the loss of their annual state funding as legislators overrode a veto from the sitting governor.

This time that governor is Nikki Haley, who elected to cut all $15.5 million in funding from the research wing of Clemson’s Public Service Activities. This agency, which operates in facilities all over the state, supports the state’s $34 billion agriculture industry with innovations from fungus-resistant soybeans to intelligent irrigation systems.

Haley’s predecessor, Mark Sanford, vetoed funding for the agency all eight years he was in office, said Debbie Dalhouse, spokeswoman for Clemson’s Public Service Activities. He argued that the state’s Department of Agriculture already conducted research, she said.

“Nobody does what we do,” Dalhouse said. “The agriculture department helps market the products we help farmers grow.”

The state’s senators voted down the funding cut 32 to 6 late Wednesday. Earlier that day, state representatives had concurred in a 106-3 vote.

“We are grateful that the legislators know what we do and the importance of what we do,” Dalhouse said.

Clemson PSA, as it is called, is part of a national system of land-grant universities whose state funding for research is matched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Last year, Clemson received nearly $4.6 million in matching federal funding for its Public Service Activities.

Clemson PSA researcher Powell Smith, for instance, has helped lead research into collard greens pest control that has saved the industry $1.1 million a year.

Haley said in her veto statement that PSA ought to have enough money in its existing budget to conduct agricultural research.

Thirty-one percent of PSA expenses last year was in research.

Clemson PSA is funded as a state agency independent of the university, though most PSA researchers also earn a portion of their salary from classroom instruction at the university, Dalhouse said.

In addition to the fields, botanical garden and livestock barns that ring Clemson University, Clemson PSA’s facilities include five research and education centers across the state. Coastal forestry research takes place in Georgetown; a Charleston center focuses on fruit and vegetables; another facility in Barnwell researches traditional and precision farming techniques; and a center in Florence conducts turf grass and genetic research.

With 2011-12 research funding restored, Clemson PSA still absorbed a 2.8 percent cut compared with funding in 2010-11. This reduces its budget by $804,128, though the General Assembly also approved a one-time $250,000 allocation. This brings actual cuts to PSA in the coming year to about $500,000.

“We have made some strategic steps to manage these cuts,” Dalhouse said. “Since June 30, 2008, we’ve lost 46 percent of our state funding not including the cut this year.”