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Impact Report

For plan Agriculture as Economic Development (Roosevelt County)
Date October 28, 2010, 10:14 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report The Farmer’s Market is a vital part of small scale vegetable producers’ income in Roosevelt County. The market is open two days a week at 5 p.m. and begins selling in July and continues until frost. This agent strives to provide producers with assistance in whatever arena aid is needed. In February of 2010 this agent worked with Curry County Agent and Farmer’s Market Directors for Curry and Roosevelt Counties to coordinate a Farmer’s Market development workshop with NM State Community Development Specialist. The program was hosted in Curry County and saw an outstanding attendance. We had 25 attendees from 5 counties and 2 states. The program started at the beginning looking at variety and crop selection and moved all the way through to adding value to crops and marketing. 20% of those in attendance left with new knowledge of improved production practices and potential marketing options. This agent serves in multiple capacities over the course of a year and one of those is an ex-officio member of the Roosevelt County Fairboard. The fairboard is the governing body that directs the fair and this agent serves to provide technical support to the decision making process. The fair is an ongoing event and requires some planning and efforts throughout the year in order to see a successful event each year. In addition, this agent serves to meet the needs of people and activities that occur during the fair. The Roosevelt County Fair is a large event held annually in August. It brings together people from all over the area and provides a large economic stimulus to the community. The amount of time required can be quite extensive but the reward to individuals as well as the community is greatly justified. Roosevelt County residents are more satisfied and have a greater quality of life when events such as the fair are provided in a community. The New Mexico Ag Expo is a large farm and ranch show held in Portales, New Mexico every year. The expo is attended by greater than 2000 people from across New Mexico and West Texas. It hosts over 250 vendors from over 14 states and 2 foreign countries. The Ag Expo is a great venue for reaching agriculture producers in a timely manner prior to the upcoming farming year. Products presented and expo participants vary a great deal and offer attendees a vast selection of agricultural goods and services to fit their farming or ranching needs. A producer can often read about products or services that could benefit their program but through attending the expo they can get one on one consultation with the company. Vendors are given evaluations at the conclusion of the show to determine their satisfaction with the event. Comments and suggestions given at that point are evaluated by the committee to determine if changes are needed to improve the show. This agent is an active member of the planning committee which manages all components of the show. This agent is actively involved with the day to day management of the event and serves as one of the main contacts for the event throughout the year. Producers that attend this event are better equipped with information to make decisions that impact their operations. This agent was re-elected as the Chairman of the Ag Expo Committee for the 2011 event. This agent is responsible for determining and coordinating all educational seminars. This agent utilizes multiple sources of information to find timely and relevant information to present in the lectures. This agent also utilizes a variety of sources for speakers in order to find knowledgeable people to present this timely information. The goal of this agent is to supply information that improves daily lives or makes a positive economic impact on agricultural operations. 50% of the people that attended educational seminars said it would make a direct impact on how they make business decisions.