Background

General Information about our surrounding area and the place we live and work.

New Mexico: Land and Uses
Agriculture: Trends and Issues
New Mexico State University
The College of Agriculture and Home Economics
Agriculture: Trends and Issues

New Mexico: Land and Uses

Only about six percent of the land in New Mexico (2.7 million acres) is used for crop production, including those areas under dry land farming. Most crops in the state are grown under irrigation, primarily using furrow or flood irrigation for delivery. However, in recent years, more growers are installing drip irrigation systems. Water is provided locally by wells, and regionally by extensive irrigation projects in the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, and San Juan water sheds. Approximately 70 million acres in the state are devoted to livestock grazing.

Agriculture continues to be a major contributor to the State’s economy with the livestock industry accounting for approximately 70% of the agricultural cash receipts. Cattle sales and milk receipts dominate the livestock cash receipts. Alfalfa hay, chile, onions, cotton, pecans and greenhouse products account for the biggest portion of the crop cash receipts. New Mexicoleads the nation in the production of chile and summer onions. Valencia peanuts, pecans and milk production from New Mexico are major components of the nations’ supply.

New Mexico is a land of blue skies, bright sun and low humidity. Annual precipitation varies from about six inches in the desert areas to 30 inches or more in the mountains, with a state-wide average annual precipitation of 14 inches. One-third of the precipitation falls in July and August, often in heavy local thunderstorms. Snowfall ranges from about two inches at the lower elevations in the southern-most parts of the state to more than 120 inches over mountain crests. At the lower elevations, snow rarely remains on the ground for more than a day or two, while the mountains may retain their snow cover for several months.

Temperatures vary widely in New Mexico. It is not uncommon during both summer and winter months for night-time temperatures to drop 40 degrees (F) below the preceding daytime temperature. The average annual mean temperature for the state is 53 degrees (F). Prevailing winds blow from the west to southwest. The spring months are likely to be windy, with occasional dust storms and gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

Agriculture and New Mexico are synonymous terms. Early inhabitants of the state planted and harvested corn as early as 4,000 B.C. Primitive irrigation systems were created by 2,300 B.C. and some 25,000 acres of land were under irrigated cultivation almost 1,000 years ago. Crops then consisted of corn, squash, pumpkins, onions, mustard, potatoes, and cotton. During the 1500's Spanish explorers and colonists introduced new crops and livestock into the area. The Spaniards brought alfalfa, wheat, fruit trees, sugarcane, grapes, chile, legumes, and melons. Cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and horses made up a livestock industry that started a full generation before Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims became important to U.S. history.

NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station is the principal research unit of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics. All research faculty in the College have appointments in the Agricultural Experiment Station. The Agricultural Experiment Station is not a physical site, but rather a group of scientists who work on facilities on the main campus in Las Cruces and at 10 agricultural science and research centers located throughout the state. The Agricultural Experiment Station also interacts with other university research units and various state and federal agencies to provide opportunities for research that will benefit the citizens of New Mexico. Total income distribution for fiscal year 2004-2005 was $25 million with $9 million of this in Grants and Contracts.

A chile field in southern New Mexico. Image courtesy of The Chile Pepper Institute.

Mission of the Agricultural Experiment Station

The College of Agriculture and Home Economics has eight academic departments and administers the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the latter of which is comprised of seven departments and three districts. The Agricultural Experiment Station has faculty located on campus and at Agriculture Science Centers across the state. Extension faculty are located in all 33 counties of the state. An award-winning Media Productions Department and an experienced Office of Business and Resource Planning support the work of the College.

New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the Union, having a surface area of 121,598 square miles. Of the total surface area, only about 234 square miles are open water (lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams). The topography of the state is composed of high plateaus, or mesas, and numerous mountain ranges. The highest point in New Mexico is Wheeler Peak in Taos County. It is 13,161 feet (4,014 meters) above sea level. The lowest point is Red Bluff Reservoir on the New Mexico-Texas border in Eddy County at 2,817 feet (859 meters) above sea level. Las Cruces, home of New Mexico State University, is at 3,900 feet. The principal rivers in the state are the Rio Grande and Pecos, which flow north to south, the Canadian, flowing west to east, and the San Juan and Gila flowing east to west. The Great Plains extend into much of eastern New Mexico, and the broken ranges of the southern Rocky Mountains extend north to south through the central and western portions of the state.

Agriculture: Trends and Issues

Population

With increases in tourism and population relocation that have accompanied the discovery of “The Land of Enchantment” have come unwanted pest problems. In the past 20 years numerous pests have been introduced and established themselves as economic entities that affect producers and the public alike. Recent invasive species include: African honey bee; red imported fire ant; Japanese beetle; pecan weevil; pecan nut case bearer; boll weevil; Columbia root-knot nematode; pecan root-knot nematode; yellow starthistle; and African rue. As New Mexico’s isolation continues to diminish, such introductions (and their resultant impact on pest management issues) will undoubtedly increase.

Water is the most important limited resource in New Mexico, as has been reiterated by the drought of recent years. Water use issues, including water quality, conservation and drought mitigation measures, will be a statewide concern in the foreseeable future. Issues regarding water availability and quality will become more contentious as water demands for agriculture, urbanization and industrialization increase. Consequently, it is crucial for research, extension and teaching programs to generate the technology and credible scientific findings that can be transferred from the College to the public to assist in decisions pertaining to water conservation and preservation of water quality.

Agriculture has historically provided the strongest segment for the state’s economy. Although tourism and the extractive industries for oil, gas, copper, coal, and uranium have become progressively important contributors, New Mexico remains a rural state and dependent on agriculture. Most farms are small, but, farm size varies considerably. In 1997, about 37% of the farms were under 50 acres in size, 27.5 % were between 50 and 100 acres, and nearly 19 % were 2,000 acres or larger. The 2002 Agricultural Census showed that the majority of the farms (88.6%) were managed by a family or individual, rather than corporate interests.

In addition, the total amount of land in farms/ranches in 2002 was 44,810,083 acres, the majority of which was in ranching and livestock production. Cropland totaled 2,575,107 acres, of which 844,799 acres were irrigated. Relative to other states, with the exception of rangeland pest management, New Mexico is a minor production state regardless of the commodity. This makes it difficult for producers or NMSU researchers to attract the interest of the agrichemical industry or national commodity groups to address unique pest management problems.

New Mexico’s varied terrain and environment create many diverse agricultural niches that require specifically-tailored approaches and techniques for pest management. Soils vary from acidic to highly alkaline. Nutrients, fertilizers and pesticides often leach rapidly under irrigated production but slowly under dry land conditions. High elevation, extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations, low relative humidity and rainfall, and geographic isolation all contribute to pest and pathogen populations in NM crops that are often atypical or behave atypically compared to pests encountered in the same crops elsewhere. The predominance of small fields that are planted to diverse annual crops, irrigated from weed-infested dirt ditches, and interspersed with other small plantings of perennial alfalfa and pecan create unique ecological pest transition zones that also interface with adjoining rangeland or urban/suburban encroachment. Pest management decisions therefore require atypical approaches and techniques, and may present unusual management opportunities (ie. insect biocontrol) not experienced elsewhere throughout the Southwest.

The most recent population estimate for New Mexico (2003) is 1,875,000. New Mexico is one of the only “Minority Majority” states in the nation (meaning the majority of our state’s population is from ethnic groups considered “minority” in the rest of the nation.) This gives NMSU a unique opportunity among all Land Grant institutions and Extension Services, to give significant attention to special interests or concerns of multilingual populations. While meeting the needs of our own population, NMSU can also serve as an educational model and supplier to the rest of the nation for Spanish and Navajo educational materials.

New Mexico State University

The College of Agriculture and Home Economics

Information and Communication Technology

Information and Communication Technology supports and facilitates information technology at New Mexico State University. Through the campus network, New Mexico State University-Net, students have access to mainframe and Unix processors that support instruction for all New Mexico State University colleges. In addition, computer clusters located around campus provide PC’s and Mac’s loaded with typical personal computer software as well as course-specific software. Students will find word processing, spreadsheet, statistics, drawing and image processing, presentation, scientific computation, and other tools to assists them in a successful college career. Access to other campus resources such as the Library, email, bulletin boards, newsgroups, etc. are all readily available. Remote archives, databases, news, admissions, registration, and grades are provided on the Web for easy student use.

Currently, the College of Agriculture and Home Economics has one of the largest enrollments for an agricultural college in the United States. As of February 2005, the College had 1,421 undergraduate students and 244 graduate students enrolled. There are about 200 faculty who fulfill the various missions (teaching, research and service) of the College. Ten percent (10%) of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics funds are derived from Instruction and General formula funds. These funds generate 39.03 FTE teaching positions in the College of which 2.18 FTE accrue to EPPWS. Appropriations for the Agriculture Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service plus grants and contracts provide 88% of College funds.

Ten percent (10%) of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics funds are derived from Instruction and General formula funds. These funds generate 39.03 FTE teaching positions in the College of which 2.18 FTE accrue to EPPWS. Appropriations for the Agriculture Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service plus grants and contracts provide 88% of College funds.

CAHE Academic Programs

The College has eight academic departments: Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business; Agricultural and Extension Education; Agronomy and Horticulture; Animal and Range Sciences; Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science; Family and Consumer Sciences; Fishery and Wildlife Sciences; Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. The College offers 18 bachelors degree programs, 14 of which are available nowhere else in New Mexico. Master’s degrees are offered in each academic department, and doctoral degrees are offered in Agronomy and Horticulture and in Animal and Range Sciences. The College is home to more than 30 student clubs and organizations, including Ag Biology, HortForum, the Equestrian Team, the Pre Vet Club and the Wildlife Society.

New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station

Mission of the Agricultural Experiment Station

The Agricultural Experiment Station supports fundamental and applied science and technology research to benefit New Mexico’s citizens in the economic, social, and cultural aspects of agriculture, natural resources management and family issues. Agriculture Science Center faculty are located near Alcalde, Artesia, Clayton, Clovis, Corona, Farmington, Las Cruces, Los Lunas, Mora, and Tucumcari. The off-campus centers support fundamental and applied research under New Mexico’s varied environmental conditions to meet the agricultural and natural resource management needs of communities in every part of the state.

Chile Task Force

Formed in 1998, the Chile Task Force is working to ensure that New Mexico's chile industry is cost-effective and competitive in a global market place. Three working groups (mechanical harvesting, best management practices and drip irrigation) focus on modernizing the local industry. Proposed research will simultaneously develop harvest and cleaning machinery, breed cultivars and formulate best management practices and assess the economic efficiency, profitability, financial feasibility and risk profile of adopting mechanical harvesting. Conventional and electronic extension and education materials are developed for all aspects of the project. EPPWS and EPS are actively involved in Chile Task Force activities, providing research based information on pest management issues including, beet curly top virus, nematode management, disease management (Phytophthora root rot, Verticillium wilt, powdery mildew and others), and weed management.

Velarde Chile Peppers. Image courtesy of The Chile Pepper Institute.

Water Task Force

Water is one of the most urgent issues facing New Mexico. Complex problems of supply and demand, ownership and water quality are intrinsically inter-related. As a natural resource and basic element of our environment, decisions affecting water quality and quantity should be based on proven scientific understanding. The College of Agriculture and Home Economics, Water Task Force works to provide scientific knowledge of water's physical, biological, chemical, and social relationships and their impacts.

The Water Task Force is positioned to bring science-based, decision-making and leadership skills to the water dialogue. The Water Task Force contributes unbiased expertise to guide, interpret and implement needed New Mexico water research studies. To help meet the challenge of water problems facing New Mexico, CAHE Water Task Force works with stakeholders to formulate ideas, information, and technologies that may serve as solutions. The Task Force is comprised of NMSU faculty who devote time and knowledge to specific activities. CAHE has identified as many as 75 professionals with expertise in a variety of water topics. EPWS and EPS faculty are actively involved in projects sponsored by the Rio Grande Basin Initiative (NM, Texas joint initiative funded by a USDA Special Grant; project funding is awarded competitively within each institution).

Invasive Weeds Special Initiative

This multidisciplinary research/extension project promotes and evaluates low-cost, community-based approaches to managing invasive plants. The research is designed to answer economic and social questions pertinent to developing collaborative stewardship for weed management. Results will help develop and expand Extension programs that are specifically tailored to constituencies, policy contexts and invasive plant threats affecting rangelands and forests in the Southwest.

Center for Integrated Biological Precision Agriculture (CIBPA)

New Mexico producers face challenges on three fronts: water availability, declining profit margins and increased environmental regulations which restrict available farm chemicals and affect general crop management practices. There is a need to focus on the development of alternative production practices that address these challenges.

The objectives of CIBPA are:

Sustain and improve the economic viability of agricultural operations in New Mexico.
Open new markets to farmers and ranchers by offering viable organic production alternatives.
Reduce production costs on farms and ranches by controlling destructive insects, plant diseases and weeds with sustainable and relatively inexpensive biological control alternatives.
Increase environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which agriculture and related economics depend.
Establish an outreach program to include a website and newsletter which develops guidelines for organic crop management, water use efficiency, and biological pest control.

Agriculture: Trends and Issues

Agriculture has historically provided the strongest segment for the state's economy. Although tourism and the extractive industries for oil, gas, copper, coal, and uranium have become progressively important contributors, New Mexico remains a rural state and dependent on agriculture. Most farms are small, but, farm size varies considerably. In 1997, about 37% of the farms were under 50 acres in size, 27.5 % were between 50 and 100 acres, and nearly 19 % were 2,000 acres or larger. The 2002 Agricultural Census showed that the majority of the farms (88.6%) were managed by a family or individual, rather than corporate interests.

New Mexico's varied terrain and environment create many diverse agricultural niches that require specifically-tailored approaches and techniques for pest management. Soils vary from acidic to highly alkaline. Nutrients, fertilizers and pesticides often leach rapidly under irrigated production but slowly under dry land conditions. High elevation, extreme diurnal temperature fluctuations, low relative humidity and rainfall, and geographic isolation all contribute to pest and pathogen populations in NM crops that are often atypical or behave atypically compared to pests encountered in the same crops elsewhere. The predominance of small fields that are planted to diverse annual crops, irrigated from weed-infested dirt ditches, and interspersed with other small plantings of perennial alfalfa and pecan create unique ecological pest transition zones that also interface with adjoining rangeland or urban/suburban encroachment. Pest management decisions therefore require atypical approaches and techniques, and may present unusual management opportunities (ie. insect biocontrol) not experienced elsewhere throughout the Southwest.

With increases in tourism and population relocation that have accompanied the discovery of "The Land of Enchantment" have come unwanted pest problems. In the past 20 years numerous pests have been introduced and established themselves as economic entities that affect producers and the public alike. Recent invasive species include: African honey bee; red imported fire ant; Japanese beetle; pecan weevil; pecan nut case bearer; boll weevil; Columbia root-knot nematode; pecan root-knot nematode; yellow starthistle; and African rue. As New Mexico's isolation continues to diminish, such introductions (and their resultant impact on pest management issues) will undoubtedly increase.

New Mexico State University

New Mexico State University is New Mexico’s land-grant University. It was founded in 1888 as Las Cruces College and in 1889 was named the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. From its early beginnings with exclusive allegiances to agriculture, home economics and the mechanical arts, it has progressively evolved to address the educational, research and service roles needed by the entire state’s citizenry. It officially became New Mexico State University in 1960. The six colleges include: Agriculture and Home Economics, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration and Economics, Education, Engineering, and Health and Social Services. Collectively, the University offers 73 bachelors degree programs, 51 masters degree programs, 24 doctoral programs and two specialists in educational degree programs. Current enrollment is 12,797 undergraduates and 3,377 graduate students. There are 665 regular faculty, of which 84% hold doctoral degrees.

Throughout its history, the university has preserved many of the traditions of its land-grant origin while also increasing emphasis on the fine arts, humanities, and social and natural sciences. Today, New Mexico State University is a major institution of higher education. New Mexico State University has been accredited since 1926 by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. It is classified as a minority institution under Title III of the Higher Education Act and is qualified as a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. The institution was ranked by Hispanic Magazine as one of the nation’s Top 20 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics and by Black Issues in Higher Education as one of the nation’s top 20 universities for Hispanic and Native American students. New Mexico State University is the most diverse of all land grant institutions, and has the largest number of American Indian students of any 1862 land grant institution in America. In addition to these distinctions, NMSU is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive Institution. Also of note, are the four New Mexico State University branch campuses: Dona Ana Branch in Las Cruces; Alamogordo Branch; Grants Branch; and Carlsbad Branch. For seven consecutive years NMSU has been rated as one of Americas Best College Buys for offering the highest quality education for the lowest cost.

Branson Library and Zuhl Library

The NMSU Libraries consist of the Zuhl Library and the Branson Library. Both buildings are in close proximity and maintain similar, although not identical services and hours of operation. The collection has over 1 million volumes. The library budget exceeds $5 million, and collections are accessible through its online catalog. The libraries also provide web-based access to a broad variety of electronic databases, including full text and full image databases. The reference staff provides assistance in using the library’s print and electronic collection and specialized research assistance by appointment. The library provides a multifaceted instruction program designed to promote the information literacy skills that facilitate learning for all library users. Although significant strides have been made in the library, one of the major sources of concern is the extremely limited budget available for acquisition and/or maintenance of library resources, particularly journals. The inability to access library materials which impacts both research and teaching. The library also lacks hard copies of current contents abstracts.

Information and Communication Technology

Information and Communication Technology supports and facilitates information technology at New Mexico State University. Through the campus network, New Mexico State University-Net, students have access to mainframe and Unix processors that support instruction for all New Mexico State University colleges. In addition, computer clusters located around campus provide PC's and Mac's loaded with typical personal computer software as well as course-specific software. Students will find word processing, spreadsheet, statistics, drawing and image processing, presentation, scientific computation, and other tools to assists them in a successful college career. Access to other campus resources such as the Library, email, bulletin boards, newsgroups, etc. are all readily available. Remote archives, databases, news, admissions, registration, and grades are provided on the Web for easy student use.

Distance Education

Currently there is a College of Extended Learning on campus to assist with Distance Education efforts on campus. Faculty have both course management and course presentation tools available. For the university as a whole, faculty have access to and most use WebCT. Both Extension and academic faculty in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics have access to CENTRA, which is a presentation platform.

Extension Education and Extension Learning Centers

Distance education is becoming less remote for rural New Mexicans through new online technology and plans for 47 new NMSU learning centers. In April 2001, NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service opened the first four of these centers. Currently, Extension offices across the state are getting high-speed Internet connections and additional computers with support from industry, including Eastern New Mexico Rural-Plateau Communications and TechNet. Several Extension programs are offering online training on an ongoing basis.

Counseling and Learning Center

The Counseling and Learning Center provides a number of services to students. Tutoring is one of the most frequently used services by students across campus. In addition, the Center provides support for students with disabilities and faculty working with students with disabilities.