NMDA will be hosting our annual Pesticide Disposal Collection event

Good afternoon! Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend! It’s that time of year again ………. NMDA will be hosting our annual Pesticide Disposal Collection event. The program assists agricultural producers, licensed pesticide dealers and pest control companies, golf courses, and homeowners with the proper disposal of unwanted pesticides. The program is available at no cost to eligible participants. I have attached a copy of the flyer that is being distributed all over NM. We would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out to the public. Please feel free to distribute information to communities or individuals who may be interested in participating. For more information individuals can also go to our website http://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/?s=pesticide+disposal or contact me via phone or email. Have a great day! Thank you, Irene

Young riders saddle up for the Dona Ana County 4-H rodeo

Young riders saddle up for the Dona Ana County 4-H rodeo DATE: 07/06/2015 WRITER: Jocelyn N. Apodaca, 575-646-7562, jocelyn_@nmsu.edu CONTACT: Teresa Dean , 575-525-6649, teresatru@nmsu.edu The Dona Ana County 4-H Rodeo, held July 11-12 at the Southern NM State Fairgrounds, draws in youth from throughout the state for their shot at a first place prize. The rodeo is open to 4-H members and is free for spectators. “Sanctioned 4-H rodeos provide a venue for exhibiting the skills 4-Hers learn throughout the year,” said Teresa Dean, agricultural livestock and 4-H agent for New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service office in Dona Ana County. “Local businesses provide sponsorships and community members are invited to attend the event for an introduction to rodeo and the 4-H Youth Development Program.” Roughly 125 youth participants are enrolled in the event with 16 disciplines offered: barrels, poles, flags, goat tying, break-away roping, step-down roping, ribbon roping, tie down roping, team roping, steer stopping, steer wrestling, bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, steer riding, junior bull riding and senior bull riding. 4-Hers are limited to four disciplines. Seniors, ages 15-19 will compete in their own bracket, while juniors, ages 12-14, and novice, 9-11, will compete in their respective age groups. A booster rodeo for youth under 8 years old will follow each performance. A dance will follow Saturday’s events from 7-10 p.m. “The 4-H rodeo project engages youth in activities that build skills related to ranching and horsemanship, while increasing life skills such as responsibility, critical thinking and self-discipline,” Dean said. “Youth also receive training related to personal safety and animal welfare before participating in rodeo.” Awards are given out to the All Around winners of each age group for the overall weekend. Winners will receive a cash prize and saddle certificate. Reserve weekend All Around winners will be awarded buckles. Daily winners will also receive buckles for their accomplishments. For more information on the 4-H Dona Ana County rodeo, contact Teresa Dean at 575-525-6649. - 30 - Follow NMSU News on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nmsunews Follow NMSU News on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NMSUNews

Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today

Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today 07/06/2015 03:38 PM EDT Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today WASHINGTON, July 6, 2015 — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency Administrator Val Dolcini announced that beginning today farmers in eligible counties may enroll in the Cotton Transition Assistance Program (CTAP). The deadline for enrollment is Sept. 30, 2015. CTAP provides interim payments to cotton producers in counties where the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX), a new insurance product administered by the Risk Management Agency, is not yet available. Most cotton-producing counties and cotton producers have STAX available and are not eligible for CTAP. A list of counties eligible for CTAP in 2015 is available at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/2015_ctap_map_list.pdf. “The Cotton Transition Assistance Program is for farms with former cotton base acres that are physically located in a county where the Stacked Income Protection Plan is unavailable,” said Dolcini. “To help us provide the best service possible, cotton producers are encouraged to schedule an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency office early in the application period.” The Cotton Transition Assistance Program and the Stacked Income Protection Plan were established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill. For more information, visit a local Farm Service Agency office. To find your local office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

Chile Peppers 101: NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute breaks down the science of the spicy fruit

Chile Peppers 101: NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute breaks down the science of the spicy fruit DATE: 07/06/2015 WRITER: Justin Bannister, 575-646-5981, jbannist@nmsu.edu CONTACT: Danise Coon, 575-646-3661, hotchile@nmsu.edu >From sweet bell peppers, to spicy jalapenos and the super hot Trinidad Scorpion, chile peppers are popular around the world for their various shapes, sizes, colors and heat levels. According to New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute, that popularity goes back thousands of years. “The very first chile peppers evolved around Bolivia in South America,” said Paul Bosland, an NMSU Regents Professor and director of the Chile Pepper Institute. “The early wild peppers were very small and round and spread, probably by birds, for tens of thousands of years to the southern portion of the United States and all the way to the tip of Chile and Argentina.” Experts believe that when the first humans arrived in the Western Hemisphere, probably around 15,000 years ago, they began to cultivate chile peppers and select them for various traits. The plants also naturally cross-pollinate well, so new varieties are easily developed and constantly being made. Today, there are thousands of chile pepper varieties. “Early on, chile peppers were used mostly for medicinal purposes,” said Danise Coon, a senior research specialist at the Chile Pepper Institute. “Later, people started integrating them into their food and they started selecting for bigger pods, for different flavors, for colors, and from that is why we have so many different ones today.” Chile peppers have chemical compounds called capsaicinoids. When humans or other mammals eat or even touch capsaicinoids, it sends a sensation to the brain that the pepper is hot. In additional to food purposes, capsaicin can be used in pain relief patches to relieve muscle aches and pains. “We believe chile peppers evolved the capsaicinoids to keep mammals from eating them,” Bosland said. “It’s interesting that birds do not have the heat receptors, so they can eat the fruits of a very hot chile peppers and spread the seeds. We, as mammals, have the receptors the capsaicinoids attach to, so we taste chile peppers as being hot.” Today, chile peppers are used in a wide variety of cuisine, depending on the heat level produced. The bell pepper, or the sweet pepper, has no heat at all. Those can be used fresh in salads, or cooked in various dished. Mild to hot chile peppers include poblanos, New Mexico chile pepper varieties and jalapenos. Those can be eaten fresh, dried or cooked and used traditional Mexican dishes and salsas. Further up the heat scale are tabascos and similar peppers used in hot sauces. Habaneros and chiltepins, are considered very hot. Anything above one million Scoville Heat Units, including the Bhut Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion are considered super hot. “There’s a lot of people out there who love that burn,” Coon said. “We can make sauces out of those kinds of peppers, but they really are incredibly hot. The good news, every one of those is edible. As long as it’s a true capsicum, it’s edible. Even if it’s an ornamental chile pepper, it’s edible.” Chile peppers tend to be rich in vitamins A and C and have other nutritional values as well. The purple pigment present in some peppers is produced by anthocyanin, an antioxidant that can help prevent cell damage in the body. Red chile peppers are rich in carotenoids, which is considered good for eye health. “A green chile pepper, compared to a red chile pepper isn’t going to be as sweet,” Coon said. “Once you get into the red stage, it’s going to produce more sugar so it’s going to be a little sweeter.” Going forward, Coon says the Chile Pepper Institute’s efforts will focus on helping chile growers compete in an ever-changing environment, with economic, environmental and sustainability challenges. For years, their research has focused on disease resistance in plants and helping to breed other useful traits in chile peppers to make them better for growers.

New Mexico Seedling tree Order is open.

Ordering for fall 2015 will begin July 6, 2015 and end on October 9, 2015. Distribution of orders will be September 14 through October 16, 2015. For more than 40 years the Division has offered low cost seedlings to landowners to plant for reforestation, erosion control, windbreaks, or Christmas tree plantations. Since 1960, more than four million trees have been planted throughout New Mexico that were purchased through this program. The Forestry Division offers over 50 different species for sale over the course of the fall and spring sales. These seedlings are sold in small containers, large containers and bare root. Please note all containerized species are offered in the fall and bare root species and any remaining containerized species are offered in the spring. We switched to this schedule because it has been shown that fall is a highly successful time to plant containerized seedlings. Plants have time to establish roots over the winter while dormant before putting on top growth in the spring and as an added bonus the weather is better for planting. Select your shipping or pickup date so that you can plant your seedlings five to six weeks before your area of the state starts having hard freeze days. For questions about prices and minimum order size refer to ordering information. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SFD/treepublic/ConservationSeedlings.html

Project aims to help New Mexico farmers’ markets sellers, customers

Project aims to help New Mexico farmers’ markets sellers, customers NMDA looks to recruit farmers’ market fans to help gather price information (LAS CRUCES, N.M.) – Fans of farmers’ markets, local food, and New Mexico agriculture are invited to participate in a project that aims to benefit small local farmers and their customers. New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) is looking for people across the state who frequent their local farmers’ market. The agency is asking them to take a few notes about the prices of the fruits and vegetables – as well as eggs and specialty items like honey and mushrooms – for sale there, then share what they learn so that a statewide clearinghouse of price information can be created. The goal is to help New Mexico growers and customers alike know the price range of produce at local farmers’ markets. “Some growers shy away from selling their produce at their local farmers’ market because they simply don’t know how to price their items,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said. “And on the customer side, people who think a trip to the farmers’ market is much more expensive than a trip to the grocery store, might be more likely to visit their local market if they could just see how comparable the prices are.” Witte said the project will also serve customers by letting them know the wide range of produce available at their local farmers’ market. Farmers’ market managers, vendors, market volunteers, board members, retired vendors, dedicated market “regulars”, and college or high school students are all examples of potential volunteers for the project. The information they gather will be combined and posted on NMDA’s website as a monthly report. Vendors’ and volunteers’ names and other identifying information will be kept confidential. NMDA is working on the pilot project on behalf of USDA, which is also working with a few other state departments of agriculture to gather similar data elsewhere in the country. In addition to helping both growers and customers know the range of prices at a farmers’ market, USDA’s other goal is to use the information to help create loan programs and crop disaster assistance programs for small growers. Genevieve Morgan, a former vendor at and manager of the farmers’ market in Silver City, is leading the project for NMDA. For more details on how the program works – and to sign up as a participant – please contact her at 575-646-1811 or gmorgan@nmda.nmsu.edu.

CES publications have been revised and are now available online in PDF format.

Good afternoon, The following CES publications have been revised and are now available online in PDF format. Guide A-129, “Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes,” revised by Robert Flynn and John Idowu http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129.pdf Guide A-130, “Inoculation of Legumes,” revised by Robert Flynn http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A130.pdf