Wolf fight headed to Roswell

Wolf fight headed to Roswell Written by Stewart McClintic on October 21, 2015 The New Mexico State Game Commission will hold a public hearing in Roswell next month to consider an appeal by media mogul Ted Turner to import and possess Mexican gray wolves at his sprawling ranch in south-central New Mexico. The Game Commission is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Nov. 19 at Pearson Auditorium on the campus of New Mexico Military Institute. On the agenda, among other items, is an appeal by the Turner Endangered Species Fund, which requested a permit renewal to hold wolves in captivity at the Ladder Ranch. The Ladder Ranch, private property owned by Turner, applied for permits to import and possess Mexican gray wolves at the 156,439-acre ranch property in south central New Mexico, where Turner is raising endangered Mexican wolves and bison. The Game Commission earlier this year voted unanimously to deny the Ladder Ranch wolf applications. Cattle ranchers praised the Game Commission’s decision, while environmental and wildlife groups oppose the decision. Game commissioners have said they couldn’t approve the permit because of the failure of the federal government to update a decades-old recovery plan for the wolves. Officials with the Turner Endangered Species Fund said denying their permit applications will not lead to a new recovery plan. Turner, former owner of CNN, has bought 1.7 million acres in New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota since 1987, becoming the largest private landowner in the United States. In New Mexico, the billionaire owns almost 1.1 million acres, or 1.5 percent of the nation’s fifth-largest state. The sprawling Ladder Ranch, in the foothills of the Black Range east of the Gila Mountains and south of Truth or Consequences, is caught in the middle of a dispute between the state and federal wildlife officials over management of the Mexican gray wolf. The seven-member Game Commission on Sept. 29 upheld a previous decision by New Mexico Game and Fish Director Alexa Sandoval to deny the federal government a permit to release Mexican gray wolves in the Gila National Forest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is appealing the State Game Commission’s Sept. 29 decision at a meeting held in Albuquerque. Dan Williams, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, told the Daily Record on Monday that the Game Commission frequently holds hearings across the state, and the Nov. 19 meeting in Roswell has been scheduled in the Alien City for months. “It’s not like they scheduled this one just because of any particular agenda item,” Williams said. “It’s been scheduled since the beginning of the year.” Following the Game Commission’s Sept. 29 decision declining to issue permits to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, more than three dozen environmental groups asked the federal government to release at least five packs of Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico to bolster the genetics of the endangered predators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the wolf recovery effort, noted that improving the gene pool has been a driver for recent decisions aimed at expanding the program and that the agency has an obligation under the Endangered Species Act to recover the subspecies. Members of the New Mexico Game Commission and the director have voiced concerns about new wolf releases because the federal government has yet to update its decades-old recovery plan for the species. The New Mexico Game and Fish Department, which withdrew from the recovery program years ago, also claims federal officials haven’t done enough to analyze the social and economic effects of having more wolves on the landscape. Ranchers have been among the strongest critics, saying their communities and likelihoods are being threatened. Chaves County Commissioner James Duffey, a sheep rancher at East Grand Plains, said wolves were hunted to make ranching possible in the West. “There was a reason they were eradicated to begin with and that’s because of livestock and livestock reduction,” Duffey said. “We’ll probably be back in the same shape again if we get infestation of those things in here again.” Duffey, who has about 150 ewes, said wolves threaten both sheep and cattle ranching. “We have enough problems with coyotes and domesticated dogs, at least I do, and then you put wolves on top of that, it could be devastating to my sheep operation,” Duffey said. “That area for sheep production has gotten smaller and smaller because of predators already. I mean the coyotes have about put those guys out of business, some of them anyway, and it’s gotten smaller and smaller. You throw the wolves on top of it, it won’t be good. Wolves are even tough on cattle.” Despite the Ladder Ranch permit issue, the coordinator of the wolf program said that the federal agency plans to move ahead with wolf releases. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to pursue the reintroduction of wolves within the bounds of the Gila National Forest, to include one additional mating pair with pups, and up to 10 pups for cross-fostering with other parents. Officials say that without the reintroduction of additional wolves, the lack of genetic diversity could damage the successful reintroduction and recovery of the Mexican gray wolf species. At a Sept. 29 Game Commission hearing in Albuquerque, Sherry Barrett, the Mexican wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife offices, said the federal Fish and Wildlife Service continues to wish to work on the recovery of the Mexican wolf. “The population at this time is continuing to grow substantially, adequately on its own,” Barrett said. “We’ve had about a 20 percent growth over the last few years and we do expect to continue to have a 10 percent growth per annual count that we have each year. So the growth is not our goal at this point for release of Mexican wolves, but rather the increase of the genetic health of the wild population.” Barrett said the Mexican wolf is a very recoverable species whose principal enemy is human. “[I]n the case of the Mexican wolf, it was eradicated from the wild as a result of intolerance of humans…,” Barrett said. “But those are things that we can work together to overcome and I would look forward to working with the department into the future to figure out the best ways to recover the Mexican wolf into its native habitat, especially that which must include New Mexico and to get the Mexican wolf eventually recovered, delisted from the Endangered Species Act, which would then again put it back into the management of the state of New Mexico.” There are at least 110 Mexican wolves roaming parts of the Apache National Forest in Arizona and the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Reintroduction of wolves started in 1998, but the effort has been hampered over the years by politics, illegal killings and other factors. Disputes over the program’s management also have spurred numerous legal actions. The reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf has been fraught with controversy since its inception in the 1970s. Animal advocacy groups — like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club — have rallied behind the wolf’s return to the Southwest. Opponents have come most vocally from the ranching and herding communities, who claim the cost to their livestock would be too high. Senior Writer Jeff Tucker may be contacted at 575-622-7710, ext. 303, or at reporter01@rdrnews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ari-Tourism Conference

Good Morning, The Small Farm Task Force has asked me to send you the following attachment. They are working on hosting an Ari-Tourism Conference November 12 – 14, 2015 and are requesting that you get this information out to those people in your counties that may be interested or may benefit from this conference. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Augusta Archuleta at (505) 852-2668 or myself. Thank you

Diabetic Cooking Classes in Eddy County

Diabetic Cooking Classes in Eddy County An estimated 173,000 adults in New Mexico have diabetes. New Mexicans with diabetes can learn healthy ways to cook meals and snacks during free, hands-on classes in Eddy County that begin Oct. 27 in Artesia. "People with diabetes don't have to give up all their favorite traditional foods," said Jennah McKinley, Eddy County Home Economist with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service. "They have the option to still cook their favorite meals by preparing them in healthier ways”. The four-part course, "Kitchen Creations: A Cooking School for People with Diabetes and Their Families," allows participants to learn through experience by cooking several dishes during each three-hour class. During the first hour of each class, participants learn about controlling diabetes through healthy diet and exercise. Participants learn to plan meals, eat appropriate amounts of carbohydrates, increase vegetable consumption, replace butter or lard with vegetable oil when cooking and add flavor to food with spices rather than sweeteners or fat. During the following two hours, participants break off into small groups to prepare meals and snacks, such as healthy salads, mixed vegetable dishes and desserts. Extension provides free course materials for participants, including cooking utensils, ingredients and recipe books. Anybody with Type 2 diabetes can participate, as well as relatives or caregivers who prepare meals. Classes are twice a week from Oct. 27 to Nov. 5 at the Eddy County Fairgrounds in Artesia. New Mexico State University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educator. If you are an individual with a disability and need an auxiliary aid or service, please contact us Monday through Friday at 575-887-6595. Jennah McKinley, M.Ed. Extension Home Economist Eddy County Extension 1304 W. Stevens Carlsbad, NM 88220 575-887-6595 jennahm@ad.nmsu.edu

WSARE-sponsored NM Sustainable Agriculture Conference

This year’s WSARE-sponsored NM Sustainable Agriculture Conference will be held in Los Lunas on Wednesday, December 16th, from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. The event is free of charge. This year’s conference focuses on: -Building and understanding soil fertility in desert soils -Basics of fertilizing through hydropic systems -Innovative use and considerations for aquaponics in New Mexico. The conference program is: Morning Moderator –Newt McCarty 8:30 am Welcome & Opening Remarks Jeff Witte 8:45 am Water Quality in Aquaponics Systems Rossana Sallenave 9:30 am Sustainable Approaches for Cotton Seed Production Tracey Carrillo 10:15 am Morning Break & Booth Display 10:30 am Effortless Hydroponic Greenhouse Production: Did They Really Say Effortless? Steve Newman 11:30 am Lunch (provided on site) Afternoon Moderator –John Garlisch 12:30 pm Interpreting Soil Tests in NM Robert Flynn 1:30 pm Managing Soils for the Long-Term: Productivity & Sustainability Ron Godin 2:30 pm Afternoon Break & Booth Display 2:45 pm Hydroponics & Aquaponics -Producer Panel & Discussion 4:00 pm Adjourn Please register on-line if you plan to attend: http://rsvp.nmsu.edu/rsvp/2015sare

Register today for a Resilience in New Mexico Agriculture Regional Meeting!

Subject: Register today for a Resilience in New Mexico Agriculture Regional Meeting! Resilience in New Mexico Agriculture Register today for a Resilience in New Mexico Agriculture Regional Meeting in your area! It takes a diverse network of farmers, ranchers, processors, distributors and market organizers to make a difference in the future of agriculture. Join us to discuss your best ideas for ensuring a robust food and agriculture system in New Mexico. Eleven meetings are scheduled from December 2015 through March 2016 to bring together a diverse group of agriculture stakeholders to identify industry trends, challenges and solutions. Who Should Attend? • Farmers & ranchers • Commercial producers & marketers (e.g., process, store, distribute or market agricultural products) • Educators & researchers • Government employees (e.g., extension agent, water and environmental policy, food safety, etc.) • Financial lenders & grant makers (e.g., banker or philanthropist) • Advocates • Policymakers • Consumers Statewide Schedule: • Albuquerque—January 13 • Crownpoint (Tribal)—March 3 • Espanola (Northern Pueblos)—February 10 • Farmington—March 2 • Laguna (Southern Pueblos)—January 14 • Las Cruces—January 7 • Roswell—December 2 • Shiprock (Tribal)—March 4 • Silver City—January 15 • Taos—February 11 • Tucumcari—March 9 Registration There is no registration fee, but space is limited and food needs to be ordered, so reserve your seat now! Lunch will be served at each meeting. To register and learn more, go to the meeting website at http://nmfirst.org/events/resilience-in-new-mexico-agriculture or click here! Questions? Contact us 505-225-2140 or info@nmfirst.org. The meetings are convened by New Mexico First and New Mexico State University-Cooperative Extension Service.

USDA Invests in New Market Opportunities in Local and Regional Food Systems

Fact Sheet: USDA Invests in New Market Opportunities in Local and Regional Food Systems Over the course of the Administration, USDA has created new economic opportunities in the growing market for local and regional foods for new and established farmers, ranchers and small food business entrepreneurs. Through investments at the farm level in the form of production research, credit and conservation assistance; infrastructure investments that connect farmers and consumers; and strategies to increase access to healthy foods in rural and urban communities, USDA has helped the market for local food grow to an estimated $11.7 billion in 2014. Between FY 2009 and FY 2014, USDA invested more than $800 million in more than 29,100 local and regional food businesses and infrastructure projects. Helped Farmers and Ranchers Tap into New, Local Markets • Increased support for farmers and ranchers developing new products to sell locally. Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Value Added Producer Grants awarded to local food projects jumped by more than 500 percent. During the 2013-2014 funding cycle, USDA dedicated nearly $11 million - nearly half of the awarded funds - to 116 unique local food projects through this program. • Helped producers construct nearly 15,000 high tunnels on farms around the country between 2010 and 2015. These low-cost greenhouses extend the growing season, reduce input costs, conserve natural resources and make locally-grown produce available for a greater portion of the year. • Provided nearly 15,000 microloans to farmers and ranchers in all 50 states, many of whom take advantage of local marketing opportunities, since the program was launched in January 2013. This program provides smaller loans of up to $50,000 for small-scale, diversified producers. 70 percent of these loans have gone to beginning farmers. • Expanded consumers' access to information about local food through our National Farmers Market Directory, which now lists nearly 8,500 farmers markets nationwide. USDA has also launched several new Local Food Directories for Community Supported Agriculture enterprises, food hubs, and on-farm stores. • To provide better pricing data to industry, lending institutions and insurers, USDA launched a new program through the Agricultural Marketing Service's Market News to gather and report prices for local food and organic products. USDA is working to ensure that this data can be used by Farm Service Agency loan officers and in the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program risk protection program to provide the right level of coverage for farms selling into these premium markets. Improved Infrastructure to Connect Producers with New Markets • Made over 900 investments in local food infrastructure between FY 2009 and FY 2015- including food hubs, local processing facilities and distribution networks - to help connect farmers and consumers through strong regional supply chains and create jobs along the way. • Supported a near doubling of the number of food hubs between 2009 and 2014, with more than 300 now operational around the country. USDA investments help plan, design and build hubs, while USDA research informs best practices and helps lenders understand how to work with these unique businesses. Food hubs aggregate products from small and midsize farms and distribute them to large-volume buyers, such as grocery stores, in the local region. On average, each food hub supports 20 jobs and generates nearly $4 million in annual sales. • Invested in direct sales opportunities like farmers markets that keep more of the food dollar in farmers' pockets and improve consumer access to fresh, healthy and local food. The number of farmers markets has grown by 81 percent nationally since 2008. Since 2009, USDA has helped more consumers connect directly with farmers through the Farmers Market Promotion Program, providing $60 million in assistance for over 900 projects nationwide between FY 2009 and FY 2015 to grow and expand farmers markets and other direct marketing opportunities. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded FMPP to include the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), which supports other local food marketing channels like food hubs, distribution networks and CSAs. LFPP has funded over 350 projects totaling nearly $25 million since it launched in 2014. Improved Access to Healthy, Local Food • Expanded access to healthy foods in underserved communities by increasing the number of farmers markets that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Over 6,000 farmers markets and direct marketing farmers now accept EBT, and SNAP redemption at farmers markets nationwide rose from $4 million in 2009 to over $18 million in 2014. • Invested in 221 projects in 49 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands over the past three years that help to create new marketing opportunities for farmers and ranchers in schools through the Farm to School grant program, which began in 2013 and is funded through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. According to preliminary data from USDA's Farm to School Census, schools spent nearly $600 million on local food purchases during the 2013-2014 school year. • Supported communities that use local food as a strategy to reduce food insecurity. Between FY 2009 and FY 2014, USDA has provided $28 million to 154 Community Food Projects in 48 states to help communities improve access to healthy, local food. Sharing USDA's Tools That Support Local Food Systems The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative (KYF2) coordinates this work across the Department, ensuring that USDA's programs and policies are evolving to meet the needs of this growing sector of agriculture. The KYF2 website is a one-stop shop for resources and information about USDA programs and support for local and regional food systems. In addition to featuring information about relevant grants, loans, research and other tools, the KYF2 website features the Compass, which maps over 4,500 federally funded local food projects on the Compass Map from USDA and 11 other federal agencies between FY 2009 and FY 2014. All of the data on the map are downloadable, searchable and updated annually. #

The following new AES research report is now available online in PDF format

The following new AES research report is now available online in PDF format. RR-790: Chile Consumers and Their Preferences Toward Region of Production-Certified Chile Peppers By Jay M. Lillywhite, Jennifer E. Simonsen, and Rhonda Skaggs http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/research/economics/RR790.pdf