The Piedmont Research and Education Center, Clemson University’s newest research and education center, was established in 2015. Piedmont REC is comprised of approximately 4,500 acres spread across Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee counties in South Carolina’s beautiful upstate. The Center includes a diverse landscape from cultivated bottomland and rolling pastures to lakefront property and forest lands. The Center encompasses all the animal, crop, and plant research farms located on and around Clemson University’s main campus. Unlike the other Clemson University Research and Education Centers, Piedmont REC is decentralized into multiple farms, including the LaMaster Dairy Cattle Center, Morgan Poultry Center, Musser Fruit Research Center, Simpson Beef Cattle Farm, Simpson Station Agronomic unit, Small Ruminant Research Unit, Aquaculture Center, Organic Research Center, Starkey Swine Center, and the Cherry Farm Service Unit.
Notably from this list, the Musser Research Center is one of the premier fruit research centers in the United States, and the Simpson Beef Cattle Farm houses an 88 head capacity GrowSafe feed efficiency system, one of just a few nationally available to the public through a Land Grant University. In 2019, the LaMaster Dairy Cattle Center celebrated the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation, which included the installation of a new free-stall barn and three state-of-the-art robotic milking systems. The combined Simpson Agronomic and Cherry Farm units recognized 100 years of agricultural farm support in 2020.
As a part of the South Carolina Experiment Station, the Piedmont REC serves important functions fulfilling Clemson’s role as a Land Grant University, which is to serve the citizens through a three-part mission of research, teaching, and extension. The Piedmont REC farms facilitate novel, practical, and impactful research that supports South Carolina’s agricultural and natural resource enterprises. Additionally, our farms serve as learning laboratories for Clemson University’s undergraduate teaching and Extension education programs. Piedmont REC does not have any assigned faculty; rather, faculty from the academic departments on campus and other RECs use the Piedmont REC resources to accomplish research, teaching, and Extension activities.
Animal and crop agriculture are increasing the use of precision technologies, and Clemson University and Piedmont REC are working to lead the way. In 2019 the LaMaster Dairy Farm installed three DeLaval robotic milking systems. This equipment allows for 24 hour-7 days a week milking of the cows and records precise information about milk yield and flow rate by a quarter, somatic cell count, and other measurements. To service our agronomic research, a center pivot irrigation system was installed in the spring of 2020 at the Simpson Station. This new pivot is fully automated to precisely apply irrigation needs to the numerous test plots at the Simpson Station. Also, in 2020 we added two precision tools for beef cattle research. Pictured in Figure 1 is a Super Smart Feeder located at the Simpson Beef Cattle Farm. The Super Smart Feeder delivers a precise amount of feed or supplement to an individual animal using RFID ear tags to identify the animal. The user can predetermine the amount of feed to deliver daily to each animal. This year the Super Smart Feeder was used in a research study by Dr. Susan Duckett and Dr. Matt Hersom to compare the feed use and animal performance of group-supplemented or individual-supplemented replacement heifers. Using the precision feeding system, heifers were able to reach average daily gain goals that group feeding heifers could not. The use of a precision feeding apparatus like the Super Smart Feeder can be used to control feed resource use and eliminate over/underfeeding animals to meet their nutritional requirements more appropriately.
In Figure 2 is a GrowSafe Beef water system at the Clemson University Feed Efficiency and Bull Test unit. The addition of the GrowSafe Beef water system provides the Bull Test with real-time bull body weights and water intake data. The GrowSafe Beef water system uses RFID ear tags to identify the animal when they step on the platform by the water system. The platform has a scale that takes weight and uses a very accurate equation to predict the bodyweight of the bull. Comparisons of 28-day live weight on a scale in the cattle chute and the GrowSafe system have a high degree of accuracy. The system using the scale can also determine the amount of water that the bull consumes. Coupling the water intake and daily weighing with the precise measurement of feed intake from the GrowSafe Feed bunk systems creates a complete picture of the bull growth and performance and more data for bull buyers to evaluate potential herd sires with.
The next challenge with precision agriculture is the “Big Data Challenge,” the ability to store, process, and analyze the sheer volume of information that precision agriculture tools create. To address this challenge, relationships with faculty in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences are being formed. Working together, the agriculture and math sciences can use research and production-generated precision data to better understand the complex issues that face agriculture and provide better, science-based answers for South Carolina’s agricultural enterprises.
If you have any questions about the precision agriculture tools or the farms that make up the Piedmont REC, please feel free to contact me, Dr. Matt Hersom, mhersom@clemson.edu; 864-656-2030.
Submitted by: Dr. Matt Hersom, Director and Professor
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.
