Agronomic Crop and Improved Pasture System Development (Roosevelt County)

A new project undertaken in 2008 was to collect rainfall amounts and forage production data for the entire county. This agent was asked by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committee to assist the Natural Resource Conservation Service in developing a better means of assessing the health of Roosevelt County grazing lands. This data will be used by the FSA County Committee to assist producers with grazing losses occurred during a given year. This agent feels this opportunity will greatly benefit county clientele and establish a useful database for future use.
The undertaking of this program has also allowed for the collaboration with the Water Resource Specialist based in Las Cruces to collect rainfall data for use with the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) system. Data from our county will not only help Roosevelt County residents but also people across the southwestern U.S. This has allowed for a great deal of one on one communication with producers in the county to stay current on issues happening around the county.

This agent attends the monthly meetings held by the two Soil and Water Conservation Boards that are represented here in the county. By participating in these meetings this agent is more aware of other agency activity in the county as well as discussing current topics with county clientele. This agent also uses this opportunity to inform producers of upcoming Extension activities. This agent was asked to participate in a county work group day for 2008 by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). This basically serves as the advisory group that helps decide what issues are priorities and how monies should be allocated for Roosevelt County’s allotments from the farm bill. This was an outstanding opportunity for this agent to gain understanding of how the NRCS system works and to network with multiple agencies and county clientele.

Determining the needs of clientele is always challenging and can present numerous opportunities. This agent was provided the opportunity to add a GPS guidance system program to the 2008 Ag Expo. Guidance systems are becoming more popular with farmers and provide greater potential for resource management. This program was well received and this agent received numerous comments that the program was timely and provided relevant information to those in attendance.

As this agent was seeking input on programming for the 2008 Ag Expo Educational Series; the topic of Biofuels came up from several different sources. After discussion with various interest groups it was decided to offer a lecture on Biofuels. With holding true to the mission of Extension in providing research based, unbiased information the decision was made to utilize Extension personnel as opposed to private industry for presenting the lecture. As a result of the lecture those in attendance came away with a greater understanding of the realities of Biofuels and the potential for this area. It was also shared with this agent that a farmer in attendance had sought help from one of the researchers present to assist with a small scale Biofuel pilot project.

Pesticides are an important piece of the management tools available to row crop producers, but it order to use them they must have a license. One component of keeping that license is to continue to further their education of proper pesticide use and management. This agent hosted a class for those producers that had not received enough credits to renew their license. Five producers attended the training meeting with 4 of those producers completing their CEUs and renewing their licenses. Because of their attendance at this class those who completed their training were better prepared to manage their farming practices and gained knowledge that would improve their business.