Field day back in the fields

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses and people's lives throughout the courntry in the last 18 months or so. The ripple effects of the virus also affected agricultural research, including at the Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari.

The center on Aug. 3 held its first in-person field day in two years, with 89 people attending to see the latest results of that research. The center held a virtual field day last year because of the pandemic restrictions, but superintendent Leonard Lauriault said it wasn't the same.

"We got shut down, and then we had to complete a request form to do any (research) projects," Lauriault said of the pandemic's effects. "Ongoing and grant-funded projects were approved pretty quickly, but nothing new started. It slowed things down from doing the detailed stuff that we'd really like to do."

Lauriault said the state-mandated restrictions with the pandemic from spring 2020 to spring 2021 also affected maintenance at the research facility. Part of that was due to it being restricted to 30% work capacity, but the pandemic also affected other aspects of operations.

"If there was a problem, like a sprinkler going down, we couldn't find anyone to fix it. And when they came out to fix it, they couldn't find the part," he recalled.

"It was just a snowball effect that went in many, many directions in how it affected the research here and in regard to having labor on-site that we needed to carry on."

Though COVID-19 restrictions were greatly relaxed compared to a year ago, the Kirksey facility still urged patrons to practice social distancing, especially indoors. Officials also set up one-way paths to enter and exit restrooms at the facility. The field day program urged attendees to wear a mask if they if they were unvaccinated against the virus.

The Quay County 4-H Roadrunners served a barbecue meal before the program began in earnest.

The presentation of research, which included a hay wagon tour of test plots, included:

• Caitriana Steele, a USDA Southwest climate hub coordinator, said the climate models predict annual monsoon rains peaking in late August, with more precipitation in the next month. The three-month outlook predicts above normal temperatures, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's drought outlook forecast the region to not be in a drought for the near future.

Noting Tucumcari's average temperature of 58 to 59 degrees since 1905, Steele said climate models predict that average will rise to 60 to 62 degrees by 2040 and 62 to 65 by 2080.

• Marcy Ward, agricultural research assistant, gave an update on the Kirksey Center's ongoing feed-efficiency research for beef cattle. The facility's high-tech GrowSafe feeding systems have helped trace bulls that gain weight with less feed. Those genetics often are passed on to the calves they sire, which would lead to more profits for beef producers.

Ward said her next research will deal with water quality and its effect on beef production. She said she believed many cows are borderline dehydrated because of the region's often-brackish water and that water intake also was an inheritable trait.

On a related note, keynote speaker Jon Boren, New Mexico State University agriculture associate dean, said he remembered when farmers received an average water allocation of 18 to 24 inches before 2001, and "now we're lucky to get five." He said many farmers since have adapted from irrigation systems to dryland farming.

• Lauriault said the center's research showed pearl millet was showing promise as an autumn-pasture option for cattle producers. He said pearl millet is drought-tolerant but shows the same forage quality as Haygrazer seed. He said it also provides an average of 19 more days of grazing during frost periods and thus 94 more pounds of gain per cow.

• Murali Darapuneni, semi-arid crop systems specialist, said some edible dry beans save more water and use less fertilizer than more popular crops such as corn. Because of the fewer costs associated with the beans, farmers' net profits would be higher. Given those results, Darapuneni said he remained unsure why beans aren't a more popular crop in the Southwest.

• Gasper Martinez, research assistant, showed his examples of small plot gardening in raised beds and a drip-irrigation system in one of the center's fields.

Lauriault said he was encouraged by the field day's attendance, which included state Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview). Two years ago, more than 130 went to the event, and that number was boosted by numerous members of Kirksey's family coming to see the dedication of a new sign that reflected the renaming of the facility. Kirksey, a longtime supervisor of the Tucumcari research facility, died in April 2018 during an ATV accident at his parents' farm. He was 62.

Lauriault said a few longtime attendees poked fun at him after last year's virtual field day, which included him electronically superimposed in front of the new Kirksey sign.

"We had an opportunity there in a bad situation to do something unique with it," he recalled of the virtual field day. "Hopefully, we never have to do it again."