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Impact Report

For plan Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture (Otero County)
Date October 30, 2011, 5:50 am
For Objective Medium-term Show medium-term objectives
Impact Report Medium Term Objective 1 . & 2.The Otero County Agricultural Agent delivered two power point presentations on two separate dates to 18 members of the Weed and Sacramento, NM community who requested the following topics geared toward their higher elevation growing environment. In the first presentation: deciduous trees, wild flowers, native grasses, high altitude vegetable gardening, high density gardening, cool season crops, and extending the growing season were covered. The second presentation covered these topics: fruit and nut trees, composting and mulching, creative windbreaks, gound covers, and butterfly, bird and fragrance gardens. Responses from the class participants included: “I can't thank you enough for the incredible amount of knowledge you bestowed upon our group. The Sacramento Mountains will be forever grateful for the new trees and gardens you have inspired your "students" to grow. You did an awesome job doing all that research for us and finding all the specific information we need to be successful stewards of the land up here. It was above and beyond any of my expectations, Beth. Thank you for taking so much time and effort on our behalf. I can't believe you even went to so many local people and got them to share their ideas (and successes and failures) with us so we could benefit from their experience too. I hope you enjoyed the class even half as much as we did because it was fantastic! You did such a great job. Your hand-out material is incredible and I will be poring over it all winter, plotting and planning. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Betsy Shepler” (e-mail) “Russ and I attended both the 1/3 and 1/10 classes and enjoyed them a great deal. You addressed everyone's issues very nicely and SO thoroughly. We will keep the handouts as references and I know we will go back to them over and over again as we develop our gardening skills up here in the mountains. We are very grateful that you were willing to take so much time to prepare and give these classes. Elaine and Russ Wright, Weed, NM” (e-mail) 3. The agricultural agent also delivered a power point presentation on “Xeriscaping” to seven residents of Holloman Air Force Base. The presentation clarified the term “xeriscape”, described the characteristics of xeric plants, explained the benefits and uses of xeric landscaping, and provided lists of xeric grasses, shrubs, and trees for the Tularosa Basin and surrounding area. 4.The annual Otero Pistachio Growers Workshop hosted 41 commercial and home production pistachio growers from New Mexico and Arizona who received presentations from NMSU Extension Specialists, Director of Research for the California Pistachio Commission, and the Otero County Agricultural Agent. The agricultural agent spoke on the data gathering she did in the local pistachio orchards for the Navel Orangeworm experiment being done by NMSU Extension specialist and the agent. Dr. Carol Sutherland provided information to the participants on management of pests in pistachio orchards and Dr. Natalie Goldberg spoke on the management of diseases in pistachio orchards. (More information on this workshop is provided under Sustainable and/or organic tree fruit, berry, and vegetable production management systems for small farms.) When workshop participants were asked to respond to the question, “Did the class increase or enhance your knowledge of the topics discussed?” on a scale of one to five, with one being “not at all” and five being “very much”, 82% rated the class a four (38%) or a five (44%), and When asked to respond to the question, “Do you expect to use the information presented in your pistachio orchard?” on a scale of one to five, with one being “not at all” and five being “very much”, 86% rated the class a four (38%) or a five (48%). When responding to a USDA e-mail entitled “FDA Tells Farmers: We need to learn from you” a local pistachio grower posted the following blog to their website: “I agree, there needs to be basic rules that are generic enough that any and all types of farms, big or small can follow. The GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) manual is an excellent example already in place. We also have an excellent system of disseminating information and help for farmers through the Federal Cooperative Extension Services. Instead of increasing the layers of FDA bureaucracy in Washington DC, to come up with more rules and regulations to follow, it makes more sense to increase the staffing of the local Extension Offices who know their areas, the problems, and the solutions. Presently, those budgets are being cut. How is adding more rules and regulations helpful? The existing laws for food safety are excellent and have given us one of the best food systems in the world. There have been a number of food problems in the last few years that could have been avoided if the existing laws had been followed. My tax dollars are a precious commodity. I’m paying for your visits to all these farms to educate you. Please consider using the systems already in place. --Marianne Schweers http://fdatransparencyblog.fda.gov/2011/08/20/fda-tells-farmers-we-need-to-learn-from-you/ 5. As part of the Otero CES office’s effort to inform the public of our office and its programs, the county agricultural agent and home economist annually deliver a power point presentation to the Leadership Otero Class, a group (15 members this year) of mostly political hopefuls that are introduced and updated to various county offices and programs in Otero County. Many of these future community leaders are unaware of the existence of the NMSU Otero County Cooperative Extension Service before the presentation and very impressed with and appreciative of the many beneficial programs the Cooperative Extension Service Office provides after the presentation. 6. The agricultural agent provided a power point presentation to 18 members of the Otero County Extension Homemaker Council, as per their request, on “Rain Water Harvesting”. Different capture, delivery, and storing systems were discussed and compared in the presentation. After the presentation two participants called the Extension office asking for additional information. 7. Being a member of the LEPC, the agent was asked to give a presentation on Agro-Terrorism. This also presented an opportunity for the agent to bring to the groups attention a need for an efficient means of dealing with suspected rabid domestic and wild animals on public, private, and Holloman Air Force Base property and the issue of feral hogs threat to human health and agriculture in Otero County.