Ag program pairs old hands with new ones

A program to match apprentice farmers with experienced farmers willing to donate time and land in Quay County is well-timed, according to Jason Lamb, the county's New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension agent.

A decade of drought discouraged many young people from entering agriculture or following in their families' footsteps by continuing to farm in Quay County, Lamb said in an interview at an organizing event Friday at the Tucumcari Convention Center for an apprentice farming program in the county.

The afternoon "Beginning Farmer Exploratory Meeting" was organized by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and the Quay County Food Shed Co-op.

Local and regional agricultural agencies and farmers lent strong support.

In the interview, Lamb noted that the average age of farm owners in New Mexico is about 65, and the amount of land dedicated to farming in the county has been decreasing in the wake of long-term drought in the region.

The food co-op's goal in recruiting new farmers is to encourage the growing of produce for human consumption locally, according to David White, one of the food co-op's organizers.

Lamb said prolonged drought is the main reason more food crops are not grown in the county.

Farming has shifted, he said, to "drought tolerant" cattle-feed crops like sorghum.

Friday's session focused on describing different arrangements under which new farmers can work with experienced farmers to learn the trade and resources available to such efforts.

Suzann Mikkelson, a farmers' union representative, said the union's role is to help organize local cooperative efforts like the Quay County Food Shed Co-op, that can set up "land access" arrangements to help train a new generation of farmers.

In a panel discussion, representatives of the National Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Services Agency and Rural Development organizations, talked about resources available to help new farmers get started and sustain their operations.

To test the apprentice concept, White, who is also a beginning farmer, has teamed up with Darrell Baker, a Quay County farmer who grows vegetable crops for human consumption exclusively.

White said he wants to "keep agricultural land in production."

He sees food crops as a source of "jobs and revenue" for the county.

"Food, healthy food, is a good business," he said. "It would be great to produce food at competitive prices."

Baker, who is 66, said he has agreed to help White learn the business because, "I need to pass on the skills to a younger generation."

White, he said, "is ready and willing. He's got a good work ethic and he already has some of the skills."

Baker raises green chili, onions, garlic, cucumbers and tomatoes on about 400 acres, he said, and sells it all direct to consumers.

White is building a framework for an "aquaculture" structure at the site of a waste-to-energy plant at a former ethanol manufacturing plant on Tucumcari's north side, he said.

He plans to use heat and other resources from the plant to raise fish and crops in the structure. The crops would grow hydroponically, without soil in nutrient-enriched water, White said.

Bob Hockaday, who also attended Friday's session, is the developer of the waste-to-energy plant, which is still in planning and permitting stages.

Hockaday said the plant will process cattle manure and other agricultural wastes into gases that can be used for heating and motor fuels.

Shannon Lumpkin attended Friday's session as she considers establishing a smaller-scale

"urban farming" operation in Tucumcari.

Her father, the late Robert Lumpkin, who was Tucumcari's mayor pro tem when he died on July 17, instilled gardening into family members as she was growing up she said, "and I want to continue our family's farming history."

As the session drew to a close, Leonard Lauriault, supervisor of NMSU's Agricultural Research Station, told the gathering their initiative is "grass-roots driven, so it's going to last."

He added, "give yourselves a hand."