Adam Gore of Clemson Extension can tell you about horticulture
To say that Adam Gore works with Clemson Extension is something of an understatement.
He has become a “go to” guy if you want to know something about horticulture and many things related to it. Gore grew up on the South Carolina coast, but he has found a comfortable niche in the South Carolina Upstate.
“I grew up in Loris, South Carolina,” he said. “It’s a town that, in terms of size, is not all that different from Abbeville.”
“I moved to the area most recently from Sumter, SC where I was a high school agricultural science and horticulture teacher.”
Gore grew up playing soccer and baseball all the way from elementary school through high school where his interest in agriculture, and more specifically turfgrass, took off through his involvement with FFA.
Gore received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Clemson University in 2013 and 2016, respectively, and is hoping to have his Ph.D finished by the end of 2022.
He started working for Clemson Extension in June 2018, and today his official job title is Agriculture/Horticulture Extension Agent.
“My duties primarily revolve around helping homeowners and growers in Abbeville County with issues regarding landscapes, lawns, fruit trees and berries as well as agronomic crops. This means I identify weedy plants, diseases, and help determine best growing practices for most plants that we see in the county. I also write articles for Clemson’s HGIC website with my articles focusing mainly on identification and control of specific weedy plants as well as home lawn care. I also currently serve as the County Coordinator for the Extension office and the pesticide coordinator for the county.”
So, what led him to this line of work?
“It was a combination of two things - a desire to help people and a love for turfgrass. I’ve been working with grass in some capacity for over 16 years starting with helping maintain my high school sports fields, then moving my way up to golf courses and collegiate fields, eventually leading to research and testing of fertilizers and pesticides on different grasses. I think that people sometimes make lawns and grasses more complicated than they should be and I want people to enjoy the landscapes that they have. This job allows me to help with both."
His doctorate is in Plant and Environmental Sciences with a focus in turfgrass, and he is investigating potential negative interactions between copper-containing products that are commonly used in the care for turf areas and warm-season golf greens as they are coming out of winter dormancy.
“It’s a problem that has grown over the past several years in the industry. I’m hoping to finish this degree by the end of 2022. From there, it depends on where the opportunity is. I love the area and hope to stay while hopefully moving more into a turf specialist role for the Extension service.”
The Greenwood resident, who plans to get married next March in Abbeville, was asked about his goals.
“For the last three years, my main goal was simply to establish this position and make people aware of the service that is available to them. For the last two years, and for the foreseeable future, a personal goal of mine was to increase the number of people that are growing their own food and increase that to the point where more people are selling at our local farmers markets.
I’ve seen small gains in all of that with over 140 people attending various growers workshops that have been offered through a partnership between Dr. Wilder Ferreira of the FCCF and myself at the Extension office.”
