Clemson farms sell animals to handle budget cuts

Photo courtesy of Clemson University

Clemson University research farm services cattle

State budget cuts have not just affected academics at Clemson University.

The school’s Public Service Activities arm, which includes agriculture and related services, also is making do with less.

The research farm services, which includes five animal farms, an aquaculture farm and crop farms, cut back 30 percent to 40 percent this year, said Garland Veasey, director of the farms.

That has meant selling animals, buying less feed and plans to plant fewer crops, he said. But “no permanent decision has been made to close any of our facilities at this time,” he said.

Also, no employees have been let go, and the research and education programs are still being offered, Veasey said. There are 40 full-time employees and 50 to 60 students who work at the farms.

“We have scaled back operations at several of our farms to get through this budget year,” Veasey said.

The research farms include the Simpson Beef Cattle Farm, Musser Fruit Research Farm, Morgan Poultry Center, LaMaster Dairy Center, Equine Center, Starkey Swine Center, Crop and Equipment Services and the Aquaculture Center.

The dairy farm, with 677 acres and about 200 cows, recently was recognized for the quality of its Holstein breed. Holstein World magazine reported that Clemson’s Holstein herds placed 13th in “all colleges and universities,” a new category of recognition. The evaluations let Holstein dairy farmers compare herds, identify above-average cows and improve the breed, according to a statement.

“It’s recognition for our breeding and production program,” said Steve Waggoner, dairy farm manager, through a statement.

State funding of Clemson has been cut by about $38 million this year, according to the school. The PSA arm has lost about 20 percent of its funding and plans to offer early retirement to some of its employees, although no retirement decisions are final yet.

The overall PSA budget was $52.1 million at the start of the year and now stands at $41.5 million, said Debbie Dalhouse, communications director.

“And we expect that not to come back next fiscal year,” she said.

The farms work with Clemson scientists who may need animals for research and with students who are learning farm management and taking other agriculture-related classes that require hands-on work at the farms.

To respond to the budget cuts, the farms reduced stock of “anything not being directly used either in teaching or research projects,” Veasey said.

“We’ve sold off some animals not currently being used,” he said.

The goal is to use animals from the research farms for multiple purposes, such as education and research, at the same time.

“We’re looking at where that can overlap,” Veasey said. “We’ve been able to honor any request they’ve (scientists) put before us.”

Reducing the number of animals to care for saves money, he said.

“From a farm operations standpoint, feed, water, electricity, those are things I can affect by having a lower cost of animals,” Veasey said.

Also, while he would normally plant 300 to 400 acres of corn for animal feed, this year that is scaled back to 170-180 acres because there are fewer animals to feed, he said.

Rumors of equipment or buildings being sold to save money are untrue, he said.

“We’re not going to tear down or sell any buildings or equipment.”

Clemson has 11 task forces working on short-term and long-term budget solutions, and those include the future of the farms, Veasey said.

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