MYRTLE BEACH — Clemson University has reorganized and is investing in its continuing commitment to South Carolina agriculture and agribusiness, President James F. Barker told the members of the South Carolina Farm Bureau at their annual meeting on Friday. 

“Without agriculture, there would be no Clemson University,” Barker said. “It is part of our history, it is part of our future. That will never change.”

What has changed, Barker said, is how Clemson is organized to serve students and agribusiness in response to state funding cuts and significant changes in the industry itself.

Since 2008, Clemson has lost almost half of its state funding for Public Service Activities (PSA), a separate agency that provides research, Extension and regulatory programs that serve agriculture and agribusiness.

Still, Barker said, Clemson continues to invest more annually in agribusiness than in any other industry sector. Despite the cuts, campus farms, county Extension offices and statewide Research and Education Centers (RECs) remain open.

PSA has focused its programs on core agriculture and natural resource priorities, Barker said, and university educational and general funding has been maintained for the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. 

He cited three examples of the millions in economic impact from programs to help soybean growers, peanut growers and beef producers. 

Agriculture and forestry, he said, are “key drivers of economic development for our state.”

PSA priorities for the future include advanced plant technology, watershed management, precision agriculture, pasture-based livestock production and energy crop production.  

Clemson plans to invest in these priority areas and to rebuild Extension county agent staffing as funds become available. The college also is adding faculty, and a new $50 million life sciences building is under construction on campus.

Barker asked the S.C. Farm Bureau to continue to help Clemson shape its programs.

“With recovery in sight, we will continue to rely on your advice and counsel to make sure that our agenda is the right one for agribusiness today and tomorrow,” he said.  

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