President Barker’s Opening Remarks

Economic Development & Natural Resources Subcommittee / House Ways & Means Committee

Chairman Simrill,                                                       

Representative Loftis,

Representative Stavrinakis                

And Mr. Boan

Agriculture and economic development are in our DNA. Thomas Green Clemson founded our university to improve South Carolina’s economy by applying science to enhance agricultural productivity and profitability.  The charge that Mr. Clemson gave our University at its founding is as important today as it was in 1889.

I would ask that you think of the major economic industries that have been instrumental to our state’s economy over the last decade (at least the ones that have grabbed the headlines) – automotive, aerospace, and transportation.  At the same time, I would ask that you think about agriculture as an industry just as important to South Carolina as these industries (one that has been around for hundreds of years).  While these emerging industries are vitally important, agriculture has been the building block of our state’s economy. And just as we have worked to make investments to ensure the success of these new industries, we must continue to make similar investments in agriculture.  Clemson University believes that we have a role in each of these industries to ensure their success by educating the next generation of students and providing the next generation of research and development.  For Clemson University, PSA is our investment to ensure that we continue to be competitive in the agriculture industry. 

Clemson PSA remains true to our founding principle to improve the state’s economy. Clemson research, extension and regulatory programs develop and transfer critical knowledge to enhance agribusiness productivity and profitability across the state. We maximize our impact by collaborating with other state agencies, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and sister land-grant universities across the nation. 

I very much appreciate the General Assembly’s support of Clemson. We have carefully chosen the programs that we are asking you to support based on the impact that we believe they will have on the agribusiness sector in South Carolina. 

At this time I would like to call on George Askew to highlight our budget requests.

Economic Development & Natural Resources Subcommittee / House Ways & Means Committee

Thank you, President Barker, and please allow me to reiterate my sincere thanks to the subcommittee for their continued support for PSA over the years. Clemson PSA, agribusiness and economic development are all interrelated. Clemson PSA provides critical information the state’s farmers require to select profitable crops and effective methods for production, harvesting and processing. Research, extension and regulatory personnel work closely with growers to identify issues, develop solutions and take those solutions back to producers.

Here are a few examples of the impact of your investments in Clemson PSA:

·         Each year we conduct in-field variety trials to evaluate the most promising seed varieties for growers. In 2012 we tested over 280 varieties of soybean, wheat, cotton, peanuts, sorghum, corn, oats, and barley and 314 for peaches. One of the peach varieties performed so well that Clemson “patented” it as CaroTiger. It’s available for growers to plant as of January 2013.

·         Peanut acreage has increased from 15,000 acres in 2002, to 110,000 acres in 2012, offering South Carolina growers a valuable substitute for tobacco.  Clemson PSA scientists provide growers daily information on varieties to plant, when to apply fertilizers, and when to harvest.  These daily decisions can make or break a farmer.

·         Soybeans cover 380,000 acres in South Carolina. Clemson is a nationally recognized leader in managing a new pest – the bean plataspid or “kudzu bug” – that feeds on both soybeans and kudzu. In September we hosted a national conference to develop a control strategy to protect soybean yields. The conference was co-sponsored by the South Carolina Soybean Board and the United Soybean Board, and brought growers from across the South to Clemson’s Edisto Research and Education Center.

·         Corn, soybeans and cotton cover 1,118,000 acres in South Carolina.

Our recurring budget requests focus on research, extension and regulation that most impact the South Carolina agriculture industry and insure the best return on investment.  In priority order, they are:

Our first priority for $2 million is to develop an advanced plant technology program, to develop and test improved varieties of South Carolina’s core agronomic crops through plant breeding and educating farmers about these crops through Clemson Extension. This program will be based at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence and will be conducted in collaboration with all of our RECs and campus farms.  Our goal is to have 6 plant breeders and 5 extension agents.

Our second priority for $1 million, is to strengthen precision agriculture technology development, which requires research specialists in agricultural engineering and sensing technology, and Extension agents to educate growers in the effective use of these systems that increase yields and reduce inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides.

Our third priority, for $300,000 is to provide funding for two technical positions that are needed as part of the accreditation process for Livestock-Poultry Health’s Veterinary Diagnostic Center.  This unit is critical to ensuring a healthy food animal industry as well as companion animal health.

Our fourth priority is an emerging farmer initiative that will allow extension specialists to provide business management advice to people entering agriculture for the first time and for existing farmers entering new areas of agribusiness. This program would complement a new agribusiness major that Clemson plans to offer undergraduate students in the fall.

In addition to state appropriations, Clemson PSA receives federal funding through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture for the Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service. Our best understanding is that this funding is secure through September 30, 2013; but is subject to change as Congress develops the new Farm Bill.

We have two capital improvement requests to replace facilities and equipment that are 25 to 30 years old.

Our first priority is to complete funding for the renovation of the laboratory facilities at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center.  This center’s focus is to support the molecular genetics research portion of the advanced plant technology program. We brought you a request for $7 million last year for this facility and we received $4 million towards this request.  We are currently in the A&E phase that project. This additional $3 million will complete our request for this project and fund the final phase of the renovations.          

Our second priority is to invest in modern equipment for research farms on campus and at the research and education centers in Blackville, Charleston and Florence. This equipment is needed to support agricultural research to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of agricultural production.

We realize that you have many requests for funding. As you develop the state’s investment plan for FY 2012-2013, we ask for your support of Clemson PSA research, extension and regulatory programs that are critical to South Carolina’s largest industry, agribusiness.

Thank you for your time. I’ll be happy to answer any questions.