2025- 2026 Southern Model State Program Assistant– Clemson University

Commodities

Practices

The MSP Assistant for Clemson University (1862) will be based at the Clemson University main campus in Clemson, SC. The Assistant has extensive experience with the Clemson Extension Service serving over 9 years as SC SARE Program Assistant, but also 5 years as Emerging Crops Specialist and 2 years as an Outreach Coordinator in the Climate Smart Grown in SC project . Working closely with the 1862 state SARE coordinator, the Program Advisory Committee, and the 1890 MSP Assistant for SC State University, the 1862 Assistant will support and promote the SC SARE PDP program.

We continue to have strong participation from our advisory committee as well as from our annual open forum session. We plan to continue this existing strategic planning process for statewide sustainable agriculture development. Building on new and existing collaborations with stakeholder groups, the state co-coordinators will work with the MSP Assistant and with the SC SARE Advisory Committee (and with the Grown in SC Climate Smart grant) to broaden the pool of stakeholders including under-represented groups who are involved with the planning process and the development of educational programs. As in previous years, an annual Open Forum will be organized early in the year (in-person only, Monday, February 17th, 2025 at the Clemson Sandhills Research and Education Center in Columbia, SC) to identify priorities and to plan educational programs based on stakeholder needs. In 2024 the SC SARE Program partnered with the SC Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program to host a joint Open Forum. We will continue this relationshiop in 2025 as it fostered collaboration between the two programs. We will continue to collaborate on training programs with stakeholder organizations and with SARE PDP personnel from neighboring states when appropriate. This includes out of state conferences in Georgia and North Carolina. The comprehensive and inclusive planning process will limit duplication of effort and will help to leverage available resources. Minutes from the 2025 Open Forum will be made available to the public following the meeting. They were not yet available for this proposal.

The SC SARE PDP Program will continue to organize and conduct in-service training opportunities for Extension agents, NRCS, FSA and state Department of Agriculture personnel, agricultural educators, and for other interested persons as space permits. Workshop topics will be determined annually regarding input from the program Advisory Committee during the annual Open Forum and/or through digital polls as needed. Continuing in 2025-2026, the 1862 SC SARE Program will heavily prioritize trainings that have a strong hands-on, real-world component. We also will prioritize progressive training events like SOWTH if the advisory council continues to support it. The SC SARE Program will strongly support those trainings which lead to the establishment of demonstration plots to display the results of implementing sustainable ag practices. This provides opportunities to collaborate with multiple active Extension programs as well as with an extremely active Climate Smart grant that is underway. This allows us to leverage SARE resources to reach a broader and more diverse audience of trainers. The MSP Assistant, in consultation with the training's invited trainer, will have overall responsibility for workshop organization, publicity and evaluation. This on-going objective is a repeat from 2023 and 2024 because new trainings are needed/requested annually and as new information is published.