Scientists at Clemson University’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences listen closely to South Carolina’s agricultural producers and natural resources professionals to ensure that they are conducting research grounded in the needs of the state’s people and communities.
Research discoveries reach beyond Clemson University laboratories and facilities to stakeholders and South Carolina citizens through field days and a robust Clemson Cooperative Extension Service with a statewide network of offices, agents and experts who hold remote, in-person and one-on-one educational sessions in classrooms and on farms.
Clemson’s six Research and Education Centers are strategically located throughout South Carolina according to the state’s unique soil types and climates and are an interconnected network of high-tech labs and collaborative scientists and students tackling challenges in the areas of precision agriculture, plant genetics, natural resources management, sustainability, soil health, agribusiness management, livestock production, and more.
“Our scientists are committed to fulfilling the university’s land-grant mission of teaching, research and Extension. I am honored to support them as they make research discoveries that will help keep South Carolina farmers competitive on a national and global scale and conserve the state’s natural resources.”
Paula AgudeloAssociate Dean of Research
Who We Are
Growing more food more efficiently
CAFLS scientists play a key role in a national research effort focused on developing solutions that will make the use of phosphorus — a finite element essential to food production — more sustainable. The goal is a 25 percent reduction in human dependence on mined phosphorus within 25 years.
Read the Full StoryWhat We Do
Where We Are
- Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science
The Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science is located on the Hobcaw Barony, a 16,000 acre tract of undeveloped land along the Waccamaw Neck. The facilities at Baruch provides Clemson with unique research opportunities in a coastal environment with high salinity estuary marshes, brackish water, and freshwater swamps. Topics of research deal with issues such as environmental impacts for changing land use patterns, coastal resource conservation, maintaining water quality, and forest and watershed management. The researchers provide information about these studies to the public and policy makers to aid in making decisions about land use and urban growth.
- Coastal Research & Education Center
The Coastal Research and Education Center (REC) conducts applied research, education and public service programs on vegetable and specialty crops. The center includes 325 acres in addition to laboratories in the Department of Agriculture U.S. Vegetable Laboratory building. The REC conducts research to increase production and handling technology for the vegetable industry and dissemination of information through extension activities. In cooperation with the Clemson University Extension Service, local problem solving and grower educational programs receive major emphasis. With the population increasing in the U.S. and especially in the 'Sunbelt", the REC is supporting the SC vegetable industry to capture a greater share of the market by utilizing innovating production , postharvest methodology and effective pest management systems that include biological control and pest-resistant plants.
- Edisto Research & Education Center
The Edisto Research & Education Center is located in Barnwell County, where scientists have studied and developed agricultural production practices since 1937. Currently, the main research focus at Edisto REC is precision agriculture, where temporal and spatial data are used to drive agricultural management decisions in an effort to maximize resource utilization efficiency, profitability, and sustainability. Research and Extension programs currently represented at Edisto REC include Agricultural Engineering, Animal Feed Grains, Livestock and Forages, Entomology, Irrigation, Peanut Production, Plant Pathology, Precision Agriculture, Sensor Utilization and Automation, Soil Fertility, Weed Science, and Vegetable Production.
Edisto REC contains 2,354 acres of row crop, pasture, and forested land in the coastal plain of South Carolina, providing the ability to investigate many diverse areas of agriculture. Scientists at Edisto REC regularly collaborate with growers and industry professionals throughout South Carolina and beyond to conduct on-farm and on-station replicated trials and demonstrations. The research conducted at Edisto REC helps South Carolina farmers operate more profitably and more sustainably.
- Pee Dee Research & Education Center
The mission of the Clemson University Pee Dee Research & Education Center is to foster economic stability and development by conducting research and education programs focused on traditional and new plant-based systems appropriate to the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. The Pee Dee Research & Education Center (REC) is a 2,300-acre tract of land situated in Florence and Darlington counties. The Center is home to top-quality research in areas that are of particular importance to South Carolina residents. It is home to Clemson University’s Advanced Plant Technology (APT) Program, and it is an integral part of Clemson University’s Public Service activities including the Agricultural Research and Forestry system and the Cooperative Extension Service. Pee Dee Research and Education Center has twelve resident faculty and fifty support staff.
- Piedmont Research & Education Center
The Piedmont Research and Education Center (REC) works to address the educational and operational needs of South Carolina’s diverse agricultural enterprises. Spread across Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee counties in the South Carolina upstate, Piedmont REC encompasses a diverse landscape - from cultivated bottomland and rolling pastures to forest lands. Faculty from Clemson’s main campus utilize the Piedmont REC farms to conduct innovative research, teach classes and hold Cooperative Extension activities.
Our facilities include multiple farms located in and around Clemson’s main campus: LaMaster Dairy Cattle Center, Morgan Poultry Center, Musser Fruit Research Center, Simpson Beef Cattle Farm, Simpson Station Agronomic Unit, Sheep Research Unit, Aquaculture Center, Organic Research Center and the Cherry Farm Service Unit. Many of our facilities are recognized for their achievements. The Musser Research Center is one of the premier fruit research centers in the United States. The Simpson Beef Cattle Farm houses an 88 head capacity GrowSafe feed efficiency system, one of just a few available nationally to the public through a Land-Grant University. The LaMaster Dairy Cattle Center houses a free stall barn and three state-of-the-art robotic milking systems. In 2020, the combined Simpson Agronomic Unit and Cherry Farm Unit were recognized for 100 years of agricultural farm support.
- Sandhill Research & Education Center
The Sandhill Research and Education Center (REC), located in Columbia, was established in 1926 for agricultural research in the primarily rural Sandhills region of South Carolina. As Richland County has grown, the focus of Sandhill REC has evolved to meet the changing needs of the state. Sandhill REC is committed to agribusiness, natural resources and environmental stewardship research and education. The Agribusiness Center houses the Extension Agribusiness Team that meets the increasing need for sound marketing, financial and risk management and production decision tools in the state. Research is focused on long leaf pine, invasive species, wildlife habitat and specialty crops such as peaches and blueberries as well as agronomic and cover crops. Sandhill is also home to the Incubator Farm program which allows entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn and develop their own farming operation.
The 570-acre campus is home to a variety of Clemson departments and initiatives. Richland County Extension, Department of Pesticide Regulation, Richland County 4-H, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Programs (EFNEP), and Richland County Master Gardeners are all housed on site.
