SC State 1890 Bolsters Sustainable Agriculture Program with New Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Scientist

ORANGEBURG, SC – To launch its controlled environment agriculture program, SC State 1890 Research & Extension adds Dr. Brandon Huber to its research program. Huber, who joined the organization Jan. 2023, will serve as the controlled environment agricultural research scientist.

Huber specializes in controlled environment agriculture research, including optimizing indoor farming production.

“Indoor farming offers the capability to replicate and control outside environmental elements like sunlight and water, which are needed for crops to grow [indoors] and allows for higher yields of return by maximizing these environmental conditions,” said Huber. “One of the main advantages of indoor farming is that harsh environmental factors, like fluctuating temperatures, droughts, storms, animal or insect infestations are eliminated since production is indoors.”

Huber noted the types of controlled indoor farming programs that will be administered through research and extension programs include vertical farming (crops that are stacked and grown on levels above each other), hydroponic farming (crops that are grown without the use of soil but with nutrient solutions mixed with water) and the use of high tunnels.

“We want to use these vehicles as a way to bring value-added options to farmers and make them more marketable and able to supply their products year-round to local grocery and community stores and not have to get their products from other states like Florida or Georgia,” said Huber.

Huber joins SC State 1890 in wake of the program’s historic $70M Climate-Smart Commodities partnership grant with Clemson University, awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in October 2022.

The climate-smart commodities project focuses on various agricultural products including peanuts, beef cattle, forest products and leafy green vegetables.

“Leafy greens are the model crops for indoor and vertical farm and high tunnel farm systems in South Carolina from mustard greens, collards, turnip greens and much more, and allows for farmers to grow year-round and have continued income," said Huber.

“We are excited for Dr. Huber to bring his wealth of knowledge and experience on controlled environment agriculture to SC State [1890],” said Dr. Louis Whitesides, vice president and executive director for 1890 programs. “As issues of food security increase and food costs continue to rise, controlled environment farming is one possible solution to address these challenges. Dr. Huber will use his expertise in this area to develop and deploy controlled environment agriculture best practices to the state’s small, minority and underserved farmers and producers. The various indoor farming methods will be beneficial to our farmers, helping them to receive the best return on investment as it relates to farming crops indoors.”

Huber earned his Ph.D. in controlled environment horticulture and a master’s degree in plant breeding at NC State University (Raleigh, NC). He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in ornamental horticulture at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). 

Huber has experience in the greenhouse production industry as a greenhouse manager with the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society. 

Prior to joining SC State 1890, Huber taught vegetable production at NC State University and provided consulting work in controlled environment agriculture.

Click here to watch Huber discuss the benefits of hydroponics at Brookdale Elementary School (Orangeburg, SC) with WLTX News 19.

For more information on hydroponics or other controlled environment agricultural research, contact Dr. Brandon Huber, at bhuber@scsu.edu.