With the help of Senator Bingaman’s new Agriculture and Environment staff person Patricia Dominguez and the South Valley Economic Development Center’s Tim Nisely, the Agriculture Collaborative meeting brought together seven speakers representing different agencies and organizations all of whom brought resources to our agricultural producers, processors and communities. Here is a capsule from each speaker as well as contact information or links to resources:

1. Jeff Bader, Bernalillo County Extension, spoke about a new on-line resource for those interested in having specific questions answered, related to horticulture, agriculture and livestock: http://www.extension.org/

2. Mike McDow, USDA Rural Development, covered the programs available through Rural Development, such as business loans, cooperative developments, and other economic development loan guarantees—as opposed to production agriculture (seeds, fertilizer, etc.).  Programs available include the Value-added Producer Program; the Business Guaranteed Loan Program—assisting farmers in the business of agriculture (i.e., cellulosic ethanol, water desalinization; etc.) and other programs—all renewed in the Farm bill.  To see all available programs visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ or call Mike at 761-4956.

3. Craig Mapel, New Mexico Department of Agriculture, spoke about the NM Specialty Crops program (http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/marketing-and-economic-development/hidden-files/Binder326.pdf) that provides $10,000 for individuals and $20,000-$30,000 for groups/organizations. The program, designed to build collaboration and entrepreneurship, saw its funding increased to $224 over five years in the Farm Bill.  Each state receives a minimum of $100,000 plus an additional amount related to its specialty crop production. Craig also spoke about the Farm to School program that increased to $350,000 the amount of local agricultural products consumed by school lunch program participants across the state. Make sure to check the local directory of buyers and producers to see that you are listed: http://www.farmtotablenm.org/nm_fts_directory_oct07.pdf 4.

4.  Bruce Milne, University of New Mexico Sustainability Studies Program Professor, outlined the resources available through his program as well as an initiative of the Alliance for a Carbon-Neutral Food Shed of which his program is a large part. The two food shed initiatives are the Food Education Initiative, and the Harvest Access Vehicle, which would in essence be a mobile food market. The education initiative would be developed as a summer program (or series of programs) specifically for youth to explore all aspects of farming from planning, growing, buying, selling and cooking food, to leadership development and mentoring. For more information contact Bruce at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

5.  Jennifer Bayley, University of New Mexico's Anderson School of Management, spoke about the availability of graduate students to assist with technical issues on the farm, such as research and comparative analysis on farming processes, development of business plans, starting entrepreneurial ventures, etc.  This assistance comes through UNM's Small Business Institue.  Jennifer is available for further information at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

6.  Phil Pohl, Sandia National Laboratories, presented the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, allowing the labs to receive a gross receipts tax credit in exchange for providing assistance to New Mexico Small Businesses—including those in agriculture.  For more information check out www.sandia.gov/smallbusinessprograms —click on NM Small Business Assistance. 

7.  Pam Roy, NM Food and Agriculture Policy Council, spoke about programs in the new Farm Bill that support agriculture in New Mexico from increased funding for Farmers' Market Promotion to Community Food Projects.  One project that the Agriculture Collaborative has been tracking in particular is the Farmland Protection Program, whose funding was increased to $743 million over five years allowing more communities to fight for and attain agricultural land preservation. Pam also stressed that New Mexico is modelling the way for many of the states through its progressive local food policies.  For more information see all the Farm Bill news at news at Farm to Table. 

Other resources:

• APA Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning http://www.planning.org/policyguides/food.htm
• Oakland Food System Assessment http://www.healthyplanning.org/
• SF Collaborative Food System Assessment (2005) http://www.sffood.org
• Healthy Development Planning Tool http://wwww.hdpt.org

Look for announcement of our next meeting coming up in the e-newsletter Local Food Connections!