By Christopher Coon
Managing Editor, N.M.
Farm and Ranch Magazine

Des Moines, N.M.  It had been six days since the worst storm in decades dropped two to three feet of snow on Union County and rancher Shari Morrow still had not seen any of her cattle. Morrow, whose Sumpter Bannon Land & Cattle Company Ranch borders Colorado in the northeastern section of New Mexico, was one of many ranchers worrying she might not reach her cattle herds in time to save them from smothering and starving to death. Sub-zero temperatures coupled with strong winds and blowing snow on the vast plains that characterize this area, continued to complicate efforts to reach the herds for weeks after the initial storm. Read the rest of this entry »

Erik L. Ness,
Editorial Director,
New Mexico Farm and Ranch

If Al Gore’s big movie about alleged “global warming” had been showing at the Luna Theater in Clayton, New Mexico recently there would have been a sparse audience. That’s because people in the surrounding area couldn’t get to town through the 20 foot snow drifts. New Years weekend brought one of the biggest “snow events” in the history of the state over the northern half of New Mexico dropping 50 inches of heavy powder in some places in Union and surrounding counties. Combine that with the following “wind event” and 20 foot drifts were part of the endless white landscape. However, about the only way you could see them was from the air. Therein lies one of the dilemmas of “Blizzard 06-07″

When the sun sort of came up in Albuquerque Friday, December 29th it was obvious that it had been snowing all night in the Duke City. Watching the weather news on local TV convinced me to power-pack and make a run for Las Cruces in the more southern climes of the state. I made it out to 1-25 before the state started shutting down the major interstates including the heavily traveled I-40 from Gallup to Amarillo. An ice rodeo of gargantuan proportions was developing on every major road in northeast New Mexico. Read the rest of this entry »

By Christopher Coon
Managing Editor,
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Magazine

Cotton industry advocates, including the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, joined regional cotton producers for a news conference at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces to explain the importance of the Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory.

The laboratory, located on the western edge of New Mexico State University, will be eliminated in September if the current version of the President’s $8 million proposed cut to the Agricultural Research Service’s budget for next year stands. The lab has been in continuous operation since 1949. Read the rest of this entry »

By Christopher Coon
Managing Editor,
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Magazine

The New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau is participating on a task force that is making recommendations for renewable fuels legislation.

The task force, which is being administered by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, began meeting in May to develop policy that will be introduced to the N.M. legislature in hopes of enacting a renewable fuels standard. In 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. The legislation includes a nationwide renewable fuels standard that will double the use of ethanol and biodiesel by 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

By Erik Ness
Director of Communications and Media Relations,
New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau

A 20 year-old cowgirl from the rain-rich pastures of Western Oregon, and a Tularosa roper with an eye for engineering, are the winners of the “DuBois Award” for All Around Cowgirl and Cowboy on the New Mexico State University Rodeo Team. Bailey Gow, a gifted rodeo athlete from Roseburg, Oregon, picked up the Dubois Award for her individual and team efforts.

Ty Trammell of Tularosa, New Mexico, and two-time recipient of the G.B. Oliver, Jr. rodeo scholarship, was the DuBois Award winner for All-Around Cowboy. He is a senior at NMSU majoring in survey engineering. Prior to his college career, Trammell attended Tularosa High School. In 2001 he and his roping partner, James Gilliland, were the National High School Rodeo Finals champion team ropers. Read the rest of this entry »