Profitable Livestock Production

Dillon Canyon Mine Reclamation

The agent has been working with River Source and agency out of Santa Fe, New Mexico that has been hired through a grant to conduct a restoration project on the Vermejo Park Ranch. The agent organized three separate demonstration tours of the old mine the first two were for producers and the third one was for youth. The first tour had 16 participants, the second tour had 12 participants, and the youth tour had six. The tours included identifying native vegetation versus non-native, water samples, and erosion control strategies. There was also a speaker that grew up in the Dillon Mine Camp so he would start off all the tours explaining how life was in a mining camp. The reclamation work is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2012. Then the same individuals will go back and help with the planting of the native vegetation and testing the water to see if the quality has improved.

Forest, Fire, and Water Fair

There was a huge range and forest fire in Colfax County in June of 2011. These fires were caused in large part to drought. The agent is working with a specialist to evaluate the need to re-organize the fair for 2012.

The agent has been working with elected officials, consulting firms, producers, emergency fire personnel, and government officials to develop a fire emergency plan for the village of Angel Fire. There have been twelve to sixteen members working on the plan during eight separate meetings four held in 2010 and four so far in 2011.

Crop Progress Reports

A weekly crop progress report is completed by the agent and submitted to the New Mexico Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. This report is used to accurately portray conditions in New Mexico.

Semi-Annual Newsletters

A semi-annual newsletter is compiled by the agent and mailed to 167 producers in Colfax County. The letter contains information on current issues affecting the industry. Other information in the letter is upcoming events and workshops along with noxious weed information.

Noxious Weed Grant

The agent worked with a local ranch, the Adelante RC & D, and the Colfax County Soil and Water Conservation District to write a grant and submit it for a chemical cost share program that would focus on using some 55,000 Boy Scouts to educate about noxious weeds, chemical safety, and how to effectively spray and manage noxious weeds on range land and around water sources. This grant is a two year project that is $116,000 with $58,000 coming from the grant and $58,000 coming from a matching ranch. The grant will allow for producers to cost share on chemical.

Grass Survey

The agent worked with the Colfax County Soil Conservation and the Colfax County Farm Service Agency to conduct a grass survey in Northeastern New Mexico. The agent was responsible for writing the height, species of grass, and weight. As a result of this it was determined that 85% of Colfax County was 65% of normal.