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Tag: NMSU

  • Third Edition of NMSU’s Extension Troublesome Weeds Publication Now Available

    The third edition of a booklet to help identify noxious and invasive weeds in New Mexico is now available.

    “Noxious and Troublesome Weeds of New Mexico” provides information on about 67 plant species that are ranked in five categories – noxious weeds categories A, B and C, watch list, and troublesome weeds not included on the noxious weeds list.

    New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension Service has published the third edition of this booklet in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, New Mexico Vegetation Management Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture and New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department.

    “It has been more than a decade since the booklet was updated,” said Leslie Beck, NMSU Extension weed specialist. “We tried to include a wide spectrum of plants within different families so when people use the booklet, they will have a starting point for identification.”

    The booklet includes species common and scientific name with description of the plant, including its stems, leaves and flower appearances; various names it is known as; how it reproduces; and the do’s and don’ts for managing the plants.

    “The state map has been updated to indicate which counties each species is found,” Beck said. “Also we have included photos of each of the plants to help with the identification.”

    First published in 2006, and revised in 2010, “Troublesome Weeds of New Mexico” has been a popular tool for identifying the plants.

    “Since the last revision a lot of the species have shifted into new noxious weed categories, or the plant may have been taken off or added to the list,” Beck said.

    The 41 noxious species are divided into three categories in regards to how prevalent they are across the state from currently limited distribution, to severe infestation, to widespread.

    Six species that have the potential of becoming problematic are on the watch list.

    “This is the part of the publication that has changed the most,” Beck said. “More data is needed to determine if these species should be considered a problem. We ask people to document the location of these plants and contact appropriate authorities, such as their local county NMSU Extension offices or NMDA.”

    In addition to the noxious weed and watch list species, the 2021 edition includes 20 species that are considered troublesome weeds.

    “These are plants that have been commonly observed as invaders of multiple cropping systems, such as landscapes, gardens, agriculture, rangelands and pastures,” Beck said. “They may be native to the Southwest but commonly invade certain cropping systems as a weed.”

    This list does not include every plant species with the potential to negatively affect the state’s environment or economy.

    “These species were selected because they have frequently been sent to me for identification,” Beck said. “Some of them are a little bit more common than others.”

    The PDF version of the publication is available at https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR698.pdf. A printed copy of the booklet, sized to fit in a back pocket, will be available soon. — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University

  • NMSU Science Centers Provide Ag Industry with Solutions

    New Mexico’s $3.17 billion agricultural industry is as diverse as the state’s environmental conditions. With four crop production regions, 11 plant hardiness zones, five defined watersheds, and 126 distinct soil types in New Mexico, agricultural production varies from the north to the south, and the east to the west.

    As the state’s land-grant university, New Mexico State University and its College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences supports fundamental and applied research to meet the agricultural and natural resource management needs of communities in every part of the state.

    The Agricultural Experimental Station is a system of scientists who work in facilities on the main campus in Las Cruces and at the 12 agricultural science and research centers located at Farmington, Mora, Clayton, Tucumcari, Clovis, Alcalde, Los Lunas, Corona, Artesia and Las Cruces.

    “These science centers are located strategically throughout the state to support research in New Mexico’s varied environmental conditions, such as soil types, elevation, growing season, and water availability,” said Leslie Edgar, NMSU’s College of ACES associate dean and director of the Agricultural Experimental Station. 

    “If agricultural research was confined to the Las Cruces area, the findings would not be applicable to producers around the state.” 

    At these facilities, scientists are able to study practices and effects at basic and applied scientific levels in a real-world setting due to the crop fields, laboratories, and livestock facilities at the centers.

    Research is focused across four broad themes – plants, animals, energy and the environment as it applies to the full spectrum of agricultural operations from the small acreage farms and ranches in north and central New Mexico, to the large acreage farms and rangeland ranches throughout New Mexico.

    Don Bustos of Santa Cruz Farms in Espanola has taken the knowledge he gained from NMSU’s Sustainable Agriculture Center at Alcalde to turn the four-and-a-half acres of land his family has farmed for 400 years into a successful organic produce farm with an annual six-figure income.

    “It was the research being done at Alcalde that got me into strawberries, blackberries and asparagus, which are our big money makers,” Bustos said, adding these were the top sellers of the 72 different types of produce grown on the farm.

    Bustos implemented season extension techniques after viewing the demonstration greenhouses at Alcalde. “We produce hundreds of pounds of greens during the winter,” he said of the results of adopting these practices.

    Improving the state’s cow/calf herd is one of the goals of NMSU research. The Tucumcari Bull Feed Efficiency Test, established in 1961 at the Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center at Tucumcari, is the longest running study in the United States.

    The Heckendorn family J-C Angus Ranch in Moriarty has been involved with the program for 40 years.

    “As a result of the bull test, we have seen over the years tremendous progress in our herd, with improved weight gain and feed efficiency,” said John Heckendorn. “I’ve learned a lot about genetic selection and performance, which has helped make herd improvements.”

    Heckendorn has also learned a lot from the science center about farming different grasses for permanent pasture.

    He regularly attends Rancher Round Table meetings at the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center at Corona.

    “I’ve learned a lot of useful industry practices, including nutrition, mineral and protein supplementation and vaccination protocol,” he said. 

    Each science center consists of numerous faculty, staff, academic students, and season assistants who dedicate their research and educational efforts to the mission of the center.

    Grassroots advisory committees of agricultural industry members and residents provide input to each center regarding the issues the producers are facing. 

    “What I like most about the science centers is being a part of the Alcalde advisory group,” Bustos said. “They really listen to what the people doing the work think and say.”

    Information from these conversations drive the science centers’ missions.

    “During strategic planning for the center, the committee’s comments help guide the specific research aimed at improving agricultural productivity and its economic value-chain in their area,” Edgar said.

    While the research projects are a major part of the centers’ activities, the faculty and staff also conduct outreach activities through field days, workshops and other information sharing such as research and Cooperative Extension Service publications.

    “The mission of a land-grant university is to provide a path for ordinary citizens to gain information to advance their work, their community and the economy,” Edgar said. “These activities provide opportunities for people of all ages and skill sets to learn from the research.”

    One area that NMSU and the College of ACES is very aware of is the aging agriculture producer population.

    “With 59.8 as the average age of agriculture producers in our state, the centers’ staff also focus on engaging youth in farming and ranching career opportunities that range from actual farming or ranching to natural resource management,” Edgar said.

    Examples are the U.S. Beef Academy at the Corona Ranch and the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium in Clovis.

    NMSU AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE CENTERS
    All of the 12 centers in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences system do research on the agricultural and natural resources needs for the area.Each one also has some project or features unique to that center, including:

    Alcalde Sustainable Agriculture Science Center
    First center that carried out research on certified organic land. Features research in fruit orchards, including AmeriZao jujubes. Housed at the hacienda once owned by Carol Bishop Stanley, who also later owned Ghost Ranch.

    Artesia Agricultural Science Center
    Unique soil conditions of Pecos Valley cannot be replicated elsewhere, so research in other parts of state not a reliable indicator for crops in the Pecos Valley.

    Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center
    Livestock grazing pastures have been observed and recorded for over 80 years to measure changes without livestock influence to study the long-term nature of grazing and climate impact. No other studies of this magnitude do not exist.

    Clayton Livestock Research Center
    The only feedlot research facility in the western United States with a focus on animal health of ranch cattle.

    Clovis: Agricultural Science Center
    Valencia peanut breeding. About 60 percent of the Valencia peanut acreage is dominated by varieties developed by NMSU. The Valencia peanut industry adds $4.5 million to the state economy annual.

    Corona Range and Livestock Research Center
    A 28,000-acre self-sustaining working ranch laboratory where research is conducted on a larger-scale.

    Farmington: Agricultural Science Center
    Only NMSU science center west of the Continental Divide and only 1862 land-grant to work directly on sovereign First Nations – Navajo – land. Unique research includes potatoes, hops and hemp.

    Las Cruces: Fabian Garcia Research Center and Leyendecker Plant Science Center
    NMSU main campus experimental farms where a wide range of plant breeding research is conducted, including New Mexico chile peppers. 

    Los Lunas: Agricultural Science Center
    Located 20 miles south of Albuquerque allows for unique urban programing from on-site faculty, including Urban Integrated Pest Management and Urban Horticulture specialists. Soil conditions, ranging from very sandy to very heavy clay, allows for broad applicability of research results on projects conducted on diverse planting media.

    Mora: John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center
    Only research program in the southwest United States that focuses on forest nursery technologies, tree improvement and ecophysiology of young forest trees to facilitate ecological restoration, especially forests. Largest producers of forest seedlings in the US Southwest with a current capacity of 300,000 per year, primarily used to restore forest after severe wildfires and mining operations.

    Tucumcari: Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center
    Infrastructure to conduct both crop and livestock research, including the Tucumcari Bull Feed Efficiency Test. Tucumcari Irrigation Project, in partnership with the City of Tucumcari and the New Mexico Water Trust Board, is permitted to reuse treated municipal wastewater for irrigation. – By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University

  • Developing the Perfect Chile Pepper for Mechanical Harvest

    There are many variables in producing the perfect New Mexico green chile pepper. Consumers select for flavor profile, and pepper pod size, shape, thickness and color. Agricultural producers want a high yielding plant with picture-perfect pods that are easy to harvest. Food producers want chile peppers with no stem and no damage to the pod.

    New Mexico State University researchers have developed what is on its way to being the perfect chile pepper for mechanical harvest. “After many years of traditional selective breeding, we have a new advanced green chile line with the proposed name NuMex Odyssey,” said Stephanie Walker, NMSU chile researcher and Cooperative Extension Service vegetable specialist.

    The new green chile line, Odyssey, is the result of the NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences’ ongoing efforts to resolve issues associated with harvesting green Chile. “Because of difficulty in obtaining people to hand harvest the green chile, we have been working on a mechanized harvest system,” Walker said. “We began by identifying a harvester manufactured in Israel that gives us the most efficient pick of the chile compared to other machines tested.”

    While testing various harvesters, the research team realized they needed some changes in the plant and chile pod. “We worked on plant architecture and fruit attributes that would mechanically harvest better,” Walker said. “We needed the plant to have a strong, single stem with fewer basal branches. The low lying lateral branches interfered with the machine, causing it to uproot the plant. We also found that fruit setting slightly higher on the plant and also detaching from the plant with less force contributed to a cleaner mechanical pick.”

    Fixing these traits in Odyssey resulted in higher mechanically harvested yield, with significantly less fruit loss in the field, compared to standard commercial green chile varieties.

    While this plant architecture helps the harvest efficiency of the plant, Walker said another really exciting thing about the Odyssey variety is the destemming – pedicel removal – efficiency of the fruit.

    “For green chile processing, we needed the pedicel – stem and calyx – to come off the fruit easier and cleaner,” she said. “Often when you pull the pedicel off of other varieties, you might either break it and partially leave it on the fruit, or you break the chile fruit.”

    Pedicels perfectly detached from Odyssey fruit 68 percent of the time as opposed to 34 percent for AZ 1904 and 24 percent for NuMex Joe E. Parker.

    “With Odyssey, we get very good, clean breaks,” she said. “This will also help hand-harvesting.”

    Pedicel removal is very important for the quality of commercial processed green chile.

    “In a processing plant where you are getting thousands of pounds of chile through the system, you have to remove the stem, or otherwise it creates woody material in the processed food,” said Walker, who began her work with chile as a quality control supervisor in a processing plant.

    “Currently, with the 100 percent hand-harvest system, the people actually remove the pedicel out in the field,” she said. “When it doesn’t come off easily, they sometimes break the fruit which causes yield and quality loss.”

    Ultimately, how does Odyssey taste? After taking a bite from the green chile pod, Walker declared, “Delicious New Mexico chile flavor, although very mild.” The new variety’s heat factor averages between 300 and 400 Scoville units.

    New Mexico State University researchers Brad Tonnessen and Stephanie Walker look at a NuMex Odyssey chile pepper plant that they have bred for easier harvesting (NMSU photo by Jane Moorman).

    Watch Walker talk about the new variety on YouTube, youtube.com/watch?v=Eoevm6aXHZI

    For a complete list of chile developed by NMSU, visit aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/research/horticulture/RR792/. — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University

  • NMSU Researchers Examine Robotic Harvesting, Data Gathering in Chile Pepper Fields

    Increasingly scarce irrigation resources and labor availability are key components impacting the sustainability of the New Mexico chile pepper industry.
     
    New Mexico State University’s Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems is providing a grant for the first year of research in the use of mobile robotics to address both of these issues.

    “The purpose of the seed grant is to foster multi-departmental and inter-college collaborations and to enhance interdisciplinary research efforts in areas relevant to sustainable food and agricultural systems,” said Natalie Goldberg, director of the center. “This proposed research is a good example.”

    The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering are joining forces to determine if green chile peppers can be harvested using a mobile robotic manipulator to replicate hand harvesting. The researchers will also use robotics to evaluate drought stress on the chile plant.

    Mechanized Harvest
    “This is exciting research,” said Stephanie Walker, NMSU vegetable specialist. “Robotic harvest could address both harvesting and pedicel removal, commonly known as destemming, at the same time.”

    Over the last 12 years, a breeding line has been developed by Walker for mechanization efficiency. The new breeding lines incorporate traits including reduced force needed to remove the pods from plants, and more complete pedicel removal from the fruit.

    “Despite these genetic advances, when these lines are harvested with a double-helix picking machine, the vast majority of marketable fruit harvested keep their stem intact,” Walker said. “Over the years we have not been able to resolve the destemming issue.”

    Hand harvest is still the best for removing the entire pedicel including the full stem and calyx from the chile pod while picking it from the plant.

    “The use of a robotic system, with controlled motion and force to replicate hand harvesting, could be a potential solution to propel mechanization of New Mexico-type green chile,” said Mahdi Haghshenas-Jaryani, assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering, who has worked in robotics for many years but never in the agricultural setting.

    Haghshenas-Jaryani will be dealing with several issues while programing the mobile robot and the attached robotic arm, including mobility in a field environment, identification of the ripe chile pod and the amount of force required to pick the fruit without damaging it.

    “Robotics is being used to pick other types of produce, but usually in a greenhouse setting, not in a field,” he said. “Secondly, in other applications the fruit is of a different color than the plant, not so with green chile peppers. Third, we do not have quantitated data regarding the force required to pick the chile pepper.”

    Drought Stress on Plants
    Many chile farmers rely on past field history to determine when to water their fields. Instrumentation to gauge plant stress is seldom utilized. 

    “Advanced technologies that have benefited other crops have not yet been explored for chile pepper production,” said Manoj Shukla, professor in plant and environmental science. “This project seeks to embrace one of these technologies – sensor-equipped mobile robots – to provide real time data on actual plant and soil status in the fields.”

    The study will investigate water use efficiency of the chile plants being watered with a gravity micro irrigation system The information will allow for informed decisions regarding timing and quantity of irrigation watering.

    “Data-driven field management decisions will allow for increased water use efficiency and irrigated water saving; more efficient, higher yielding plants; and allow producers in the state to better respond to erratic climatic conditions experienced more frequently due to climate change pressures,” Shukla said.

    To investigate the impact of drought stress on chile plants, the mobile robot can be equipped with sensors to determine the soil moisture, the air temperature under the plant’s canopy and between the rows, and wind velocity. There will also be a camera to visually record the condition of the plant.

    “This labor-intensive task of vast data collection on farm can be efficiently carried out using ground robots,” Shukla said. “Robotic systems have been steadily integrated in the agriculture and farming systems to address challenges and problems, such as water scarcity, soil salinization and increasing need to monitor crop health for yield production. This is the first time this technology is being investigated for New Mexico-type green chile production.” – By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University
    New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering are teaming up to research using robotics in green chile pepper fields to gather data regarding drought stress on plants and to harvest chile peppers. Pictured are, from left, Mahdi Haghshenas-Jaryani, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Stephanie Walker, associate professor and Extension vegetable specialist; and Manoj Shukla, professor of plant and environmental sciences. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)

  • NMSU Extension Offers Online Produce Safety Training June 29-30

    Harvesting of vegetables and fruits is beginning. Soon fresh produce will be available at growers’ markets.
     
    In preparation for providing for this season’s harvest and sales, a food safety practices course is available to growers to meet the regulatory requirements included in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule.

    New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service, the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center, and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture are offering the training online from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, June 29, and Tuesday, June 30. 

    “We are excited to offer New Mexico’s third remote delivery of the Produce Safety Alliance’s growers training,” said Bob Silver with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center. “This training is intended for New Mexico fruit and vegetable producers and importers who grow, harvest, pack or hold produce and fruit that is usually consumed raw, and who sell more than $25,000 per year.” 

    The Produce Safety Rule requires at least one supervisor or person responsible for the farm to have successfully completed food safety training in accordance with the annual monetary value of produce the farm sold during the previous three years.

    Participants who complete the course receive a certificate from the Association of Food and Drug Officials that verifies they have completed the training. The certificate is also useful for meeting buyer requirements for food safety.

    “Attendance at the training the whole eight hours is mandatory and if someone does not attend all the sessions, they will not be given a certificate or refund,” Silver said.

    NMDA is covering the cost of the manual that will be mailed directly to the participant prior to the video training. The manual is a useful reference for farm safety practices and to develop a farm safety plan.

    Registration closes at noon on June 22 to allow for postal delivery of the manuals. The link and password for the webinar will be provided upon registration. Registration fee for New Mexico residents is $45 and $90 for out of state growers. To register, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/preparedness/psa-training.html.

    “Participants will need internet access, webcam and microphone for the session,” Silver said. 

    For details on the Zoom requirements and instructions, visit https://producesafetyalliance.cornell.edu/training/zoom/.

  • NMSU, Xerces Society Present Supporting Pollinators, Beneficial Insect Webinars

    Bees are busy pollinators. New Mexico State University and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation are presenting a six-part weekly webinar series, “Supporting Pollinators and Beneficial Insects in Backyards and on Farms,” beginning June 23. (NMSU photo by Jane Moorman)

    New Mexico State University has partnered with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation to host a free virtual course series to inform farmers, educators and the general public about pollinator and beneficial insect conservation in gardens and farms in northern New Mexico.

    “The six-part weekly series, “Supporting Pollinators and Beneficial Insects in Backyards and on Farms,” will consist of one to one-and-a-half hour live virtual presentations via Zoom,” said Amanda Skidmore, NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences integrated pest management small farm specialist. 

    The webinars will be at 3 p.m. Tuesdays, June 23 through July 28. Participants are welcome to attend any and all of the six sessions.

    Registration is required for attendance of each live presentation. Live captioning will be provided.

    All sessions will be uploaded to the NMSU ACES YouTube channel at a later date with no viewing restrictions.

    “The series will cover a range of topics on pollinators and beneficial insects in northern New Mexico,” Skidmore said. “From getting to know the bees and other helpful bugs in backyards and farms, to designing and planting healthy habitat to support those insects and protecting pollinators from pesticides.” 

    The topics and dates of each session, with links to individual registration pages, are as follows: 

    • June 23: “Pollinators of Northern New Mexico: How to Identify and Conserve the Bees in Your Backyard”

    • June 30: “Helpful Bugs of Northern New Mexico: How to Identify and Conserve Beneficial Insects for Pest Control” 

    • July 7: “Conserving Bees in Your Backyard: How to Create Habitat for New Mexico Pollinators in Small Spaces” 

    • July 14: “Attracting and Supporting Crop Pollinators on New Mexico Farms” 

    • July 21: “Integrating Pollinators and Pest Management in New Mexico Gardens and Farms”

    • July 28: “Ask Me Anything: New Mexico Pollinator and Beneficial Insect Expert Roundtable” 

    For more details and to register, visit the series website at http://nmsu.life/8m.  

    Contact Rachel Dunham at rachel.dunham@xerces.org with any registration questions. To submit questions about pollinators and beneficial insects for the “Ask Me Anything,” email nmsuipm@nmsu.edu. — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University (505-249-0527)

  • NMSU Determining Combination of Native Flowers to Attract Different Pollinators

    Pollinator insects play a critical role in the agricultural world. Without their natural transference of pollen from plant to plant while obtaining nutrients, many types of vegetables and fruit for human consumption would not exist.
     
    More than 80 percent of plants are pollinated by animals, mainly insects. In recent years, there has been a decline in pollinator insects for many reasons, one being the decline or loss of habitat.

    This is one area people can help support pollinator populations, by growing native flowering plants from which the pollinators obtain protein and lipids from the pollen, and carbohydrates and amino acids from the nectar.

    Researchers at New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences are studying the activity of insects, both pollinator and beneficial, around native plants to determine what mix of flowering cultivars will attract the different insect types.

    “We have evaluated 22 different perennial native plants in seven different mixes, or combinations,” said Miranda Kersten, senior program specialist at NMSU’s Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas, of the study that began in 2017. “For the last two summers, we have done visual observations where we record the number of different insect groups visiting the flower, and taken vacuum samples from each of the plots to see which species are attracted to the plants.”

    From the current study, which is supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Extension Implementation Program grant, the researchers can suggest plants to attract bumble bees, large and small native bees, and natural enemies of pests such as the ladybeetles, syrphid flies, and large and small wasps.

    “The flowers range in color from various shades of purple and pink, to orange, yellow and white,” Kersten said. “We did not use red flowers because insects don’t see that color well and are less attracted to the blossoms.”

    When planning a pollinator garden, it is important to include plants that flower at different times of the season. 

    “All during the season, bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen, depending if they are honey bees or native bees, to feed their babies during the winter,” said Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service small farm integrated pest management specialist. 

    “Spring blooms help the early emerging pollinators,” she said. “Blooms throughout the summer that are different colors and shapes help attract the insects while they are building their nest. Fall blooms help them store up an energy source for their babies’ development.”

    Bees are considered to be the most efficient pollinator. They are the only pollinator that feeds on pollen/nectar as larvae and adults.

    “Some of our native bees are generalists, visiting many types of flowers, while others are specialists, visiting a specific species,” Skidmore said. “Bumblebees are generalists that are active from early spring to late fall, while different species of native bees are active in different times of the year.”

    A little-known fact is that New Mexico has more than 1,000 unique native bee species – the third-highest number in the nation behind California and Arizona.

    During the project, the researchers learned that Riddell’s ragwort was the latest-blooming flower of the plants included in the study and it was highly visited by bees and wasps in the fall. Plants with extra-floral nectaries, such as Rocky Mountain penstemon, can provide additional resources through the growing season and benefit a variety of insects.

    To learn more about identifying these beneficial insect groups, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H172/welcome.html for the Extension publication “Backyard Beneficial Insects of New Mexico.” — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University

  • NMSU Farmington Research Center Participating in Potatoes USA Variety Study

    FARMINGTON – Approximately 5,000 semi-truck loads of potatoes leave the Four Corners region every year. The spuds are headed to dinner tables via retail stores and snack processors.

    The dinner potatoes are grown by Navajo Agriculture Products Industry, while those headed to potato chip processing are grown by 2 men with potatoes an independent contractor renting NAPI farm land.

    Located in the middle of the potato fields is New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, which is conducting variety trials to help the two producers improve their crop quality and yield.

    Potatoes produce more revenue per acre than any other crop that can be produced in the Four Corners region.
    NMSU is one of 12 land-grant university research farms in the United States conducting potato variety trials in cooperation with Potatoes USA, a grower’s group.

    Potatoes USA is an industry-funded marketing organization that promotes five main potato products: fresh table-stock potatoes, fresh chipping potatoes, seed potatoes, frozen potato products and dehydrated potato products.

    “Producers pay 3 cents a hundred-weight to Potatoes USA to provide services that help customers around the world increase demand for potatoes,” said Charles Higgins, president of Higgins Farms Inc. and consultant through Potatoes USA. “The organization invests in marketing and product management research to help grow the potato business.”

    NMSU has benefited from the organization’s investment in research through grant funds for equipment specific for potato research.

    “This year variety trials of 33 table cultivars and 22 chip cultivars were conducted at the Farmington research center fields,” Higgins said. “We are looking for chip varieties that have better chemical stability from storage for potato chips, and varieties that have better appearance for supermarkets.”

    Since NMSU established the research farm 50 years ago on the mesa south of Farmington, variety trials of an array of crops have been done to help NAPI and Four Corners region agricultural producers be more profitable.

    “We are combining research and practical experience to obtain the best results,” said Aaron Benally, NAPI organic/conventional crop director. “The variety trials at NMSU help us to not waste time and money on crops that will not produce well in our environment and climate.”

    As consumer trends shift toward organic produce, NAPI has expanded its farming practice to include organic potatoes. Potatoes_man

    “Because of regulations regarding what chemicals can be used on organic fields, we are transitioning a portion of our farm in order to help NAPI determine which organic crops they might want to grow by looking at pest control methods that are best for their operation,” said Kevin Lombard, superintendent of NMSU’s Farmington facility.

    NMSU has conducted extensive research on evapotranspiration at the Farmington facility. That water research has determined consumptive use indexes and efficient water application strategies on crops grown in the area. This information has helped NAPI and other agriculture producers to be better stewards of water in the semi-arid region.

    Water application research includes determining water-use production function of the crop. This project includes developing and evaluating formulae to predict water application and consumptive use of the crop.

    NMSU assistant professor Koffi Djaman, whose professional field of expertise includes soil and water resources, irrigation engineering and crop response to irrigation, has extended the water research into the potato fields where he is measuring soil moisture with soil probes that transmit data to office computers and cell phones.

    Sensors in the probe at four-inch intervals measure the soil moisture content at different depths.

    “With this system we can tell when we need to water and how much irrigation water is needed,” Djaman said. “After a rain, we can determine how deep that moisture has gone and add the amount needed to meet crop evapotranspiration efficiently.”

    The partnership between NMSU, NAPI and Potatoes USA is helping the region contribute one percent of all potatoes produced in the United States