Small Farms Institute Committee
Mission: The Small Farms Institute Committee has been formed to develop and propose state legislation for the establishment of a Small Farms Institute at New Mexico State University. this institute will provide teaching, research, and outreach opportunities in sustainable agriculture.
Contact: Sandy Geiger, sgeiger@nmsu.edu, 526-9572
Web: nmsmallfarms.blogspot.com
Text of bills: Proposed Legislation for Recurring and Nonrecurring Funds
FYI: State Legislative Report on the NMSU Small Farms Institute, February 22, 2007
Two bills and a capital outlay request will set the wheels in motion for the creation of an institute at NMSU for the teaching, research and extension services in sustainable agriculture to benefit small farmers throughout the state. The institute, in cooperation with DACC and Heifer Project International, will provide 2- and 4-year degrees in sustainable agriculture as well as providing services and training for small farmers. More than 80 percent of the farms in New Mexico are classified as small farms, according to Dr. Paul Gutierrez, Vice Provost for Outreach, and the farming community would benefit from information on diversifying crops, specialty crops, efficient irrigation techniques, alternative markets, and new marketing strategies. Emphases include further development of local markets, farm to school programs, and food security for the region.
House Bill 285 (sponsored by Andy Nunez) and Senate Bill 235 (sponsored by Mary Kay Papen) nicknamed “Services for Small Farmers” providing $200,000 funding for the staffing of this institute cleared the Senate Conservation Committee and House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee in early in the session. HB 285 was tabled at House Appropriations and Finance, but will “go through committee” as a package with lots of other tabled bills and be inserted as an amendment to HB2 Junior. Senate Bill 235 is presently in the Finance Committee, hence, Legislative Request #4 today. Some $70,000 of discretionary funding has been raised to support the Senate Bill already.
The one-time Capital Outlay requests, called the NMSU Sustainable Ag requests, will provide $500,000 for infrastructure and equipment for the institute.
Although not an NMSU legislative priority, the institute has NMSU’s support as a grassroots effort.
Sustainable agriculture refers to an agricultural production and distribution system that achieves integration of natural biological cycles and controls, protects and renews soil fertility, optimizes the management and use of on-farm resources, reduces the use of nonrenewable resources and purchased production inputs, provides an adequate and dependable farm income, promotes opportunity in family farming and farm communities, and minimizes adverse impacts on health, safety, wildlife, water quality, and the environment. (from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program within USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service)
For additional information, contact Jeff Graham, organic farmer in Doña Ana County, farmerjeff@zianet.com, 640-5600.
Background Information
• NMSU OASIS (Organic Agriculture Students Inspiring Sustainability) program has recently ended for the foreseeable future. Support for the farm manager and two acres of land were sought for five years from the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and NMSU without success. It was a rich experiment seeing what can be grown organically in the desert with limited water resources; teaching students about localizing a fresh, organic, and healthy food system; and introducing a novel system for growing and selling organic food to the Mesilla Valley community.
• Effort to further develop NMSU academic opportunities in sustainable agriculture commenced with the revision of former Small Farms Institute proposals.
• The NMSU Small Farms Institute (SFI) proposals include a collaboration with Heifer Project International (HPI). In two meetings this fall, this collaboration was explored and two possible projects were proposed. One option is a learning center partnership using the HPI Global Village format. The Global Village uses experiential education techniques and curricula to teach visitors about hunger, poverty, and sustainable development. The other possibility is a training center for farmers involved in HPI sustainable farming projects in the region.
HPI has more than 60 years of experience in developing country animal husbandry projects aimed at alleviating hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation. The Southwest Program of HPI has worked in New Mexico for seven years, establishing six projects, including two in the Navajo Nation. New Mexico projects include improved beef cattle, meat and dairy goats, wool and vegetable production, and greenhouse projects. Both the Global Village and the Training Center would involve outreach to the community as well as provide teaching and research components and opportunity for service learning projects for NMSU students.
• The SFI also proposes to jointly develop a 2+2 program in sustainable agriculture education with the Doña Ana Community College (DACC). A 2+2 program enables students to take two years of classes at DACC and complete their bachelor's degree at NMSU. The program could include practical classes like tractor use, maintenance, and repair; greenhouse management and operation; irrigation systems; and direct marketing techniques, as well as managing a CSA and growing organic produce in a future OASIS-type class.
• The following HPI personnel, NMSU, Doña Ana County and DACC faculty, staff, students, alumni, and administrators have been informed of and/or have participated in meetings regarding an HPI-NMSU-SFI partnership: Anne Harper, Rigoberto Delgado, Cristina Dominguez, Naomi Todd, Donna Alden, Kari Bachmann, Ida Baca, Diana Bustamante, Lowell Catlett, Leroy Daugherty, William Eamon, Everett Egginton, Wynn Egginton, Joe Ellington, Connie Falk, William Flores, Ana Cordova Garrison, Sandy Geiger, Edmund Gomez, Jeff Graham, Paul Gutierrez, H.G. Kinzer, Delano Lewis, Charles Martin, Mike Martin, John Mexal, Greg Mullins, Pauline Pao, Octavio Ramirez, Tim Ross, Pam Roy, Barbara Sallach, Ciena Schlaefli, Manoj Shukla, Kim Seifert, Lois Stanford, Milton Thomas, John Walker, John White, and Mark Wise.
• Colleagues from the College of Agriculture and Home Economics are studying the land availability situation.
There is much interest in identifying all related research and development projects as additional proposal rationale.
• There is much interest in identifying all related research and development projects as additional proposal rationale.
• The SFI proposals have recently matured into bills and the state legislative requests are now becoming a reality with the effort of contact person Jeff Graham and others. The groundswell of local support has been amazing. Representative Andy Nuñez is going to carry the bills in the House. Representative Nuñez will vet the bills with the remaining legislators in our area to secure their support as well. The following individuals will testify at committee hearings: Dr. Paul Gutierrez has agreed to testify as the expert witness; Joanie Quinn, from the New Mexico Organic Commodity Commission; Edmund Gomez, NMSU Extension Officer in Alcalde; Don Bustos, owner of Santa Cruz Farm and Greenhouse in Espanola; and Jeff Graham, our contact person and local organic grower and CSA provider.
Letter to Our State Legislators
Re: Proposed legislation assisting small family farms
We would like to invite you to support legislation creating a Small Farms Institute (SFI) at New Mexico State University (NMSU).
Agriculture is at a crossroads. Research, teaching, and extension support infrastructure on the NMSU main campus is needed to provide statewide direction and leadership to help sustain agriculture in New Mexico. Agriculture can contribute to the state as a viable economic sector and segment of our culture or it can become a distant memory as urbanization swallows up the tiny irrigable agriculture land that hugs our river valleys.
Agriculture programs at NMSU need to address the concerns of the majority of small family farmers in the state who cannot compete in commodity markets. Programmatic support is needed for direct and local marketing, organic production, and profitable alternatives for small family farms.
Recently the New Mexico Climate Change Advisory Group turned in its report to the Governor on climate change, and among other recommendations, included support for organic and local agriculture. Green house gas emissions can be avoided or sequestered through increased organic soil matter and local marketing of produce grown in the state. Local marketing also increases economic activity, supports rural areas, and increases state resident access to fresh healthy food.
The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of New Mexico. A key area the SFI will focus on is efficient water use in agriculture. For example, a campus Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at NMSU has grown about 10 tons of fresh produce every year using between 2 and 3 acre feet of water with sub-surface drip irrigation. Much more work needs to be done to understand optimal water management for farming systems. Larger programs in regional watershed management are needed to insure adequate water resources for all users.
We appreciate your support for the attached NMSU Small Farms Institute proposals.
More information about the SFI is available from Jeff Graham, at farmerjeff@zianet.com or 505-640-5600.
Thank you for your consideration,
The Small Farms Institute Committee
Proposed Legislation for Recurring and Nonrecurring Funds
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