May 1, 2007 Extension Update

Dear Extension Faculty and Staff:

College Town Hall meetings begin in Las Cruces, May 30th, 10am to 2pm. (Location yet to be determined.) The meetings are being held to gauge the stakeholder priority needs and interests as part of the college visioning process and, in preparation for requesting AES & CES base funding increases in the 2008 NM legislative session. All CAHE Department Heads, Teaching & Research Faculty & CES Specialists and Agents, AES & CES Support Council members, and Extension stakeholders and NON-stakeholders, are welcome to attend. Dean Catlett will be sending a letter of invitation out shortly. Please submit names/addresses of individuals who should receive the invitation to Jeanine Castillo rjeanine@nmsu.edu or 505-202-8728. We will also be seeking you help in getting people to these meetings. Input sought at the meetings includes: Future Town Hall meeting dates are: Aug. 22 - Silver City; Aug. 29 - Farmington; Aug. 30 - Albuquerque; Sept. 27 - Clayton; Sept. 28 - Roswell.

Imagine expecting 1,000 lbs of wool and receiving 11,000 lbs! Patrick Melendres, Alcalde Extension Natural Resource Agent, found himself in this position. With the original help of Christina Turner, Pueblo Agriculture Agent, Pat has been doing economic development work with Acoma & Laguna Pueblos and the Navajo communities of Rama and Canoncito. He is working on his fifth year of providing profitable market outlets for Native American wool growers. Through Pat and others efforts, these sheep ranchers have seen a 1000% increase in their first negotiated quantity of wool bags and a 400% increase in profit in their wool sales.

Below Ricardo has provided us with a summary of NM Legislative events and there is plenty of good news for Extension:

Facilities:
There was a breakthrough in an effort that has long been pursued to place our off-campus science center facilities on the building replacement and renewal formula. This finally happened this year, which translates into $374,000 recurring dollars for these facilities, which have become increasingly important to the Extension mission. In addition, one-time capital outlay dollars brings the total dollars for these facilities in the coming year to around $900,000, which puts the college in position to address serious facilities crises. Renovation of the feed mill at the Clayton Research and Extension Center will be considered a priority this year.
Tribal Extension:
Extension received $150,000 to base funding for the Tribal Extension Initiative. In addition, $97,000 was appropriated for one-time start-up funds to help establish tribal centers. The original request was for $1.2 million, for the establishment of five Tribal Extension Centers. The funding received this year will support the establishment of one center. The Tribal Extension Task Force members will be next week in Shiprock to discuss the possibility of locating the first center on the Navajo Nation. Viticulture: We increased recurring dollars for the Extension viticulturist by $80,000. So, now our total recurring budget for the Extension viticulture program is almost $214,000. This puts the program on solid footing.
Chile Industry:
The Extension budget received $862,000 in support of the chile industry. There were additional dollars related to this in the AES budget. We have no confirmation at this time that the dollars are recurring. This funding comes to Extension at the request of the New Mexico Chile Association and is targeted for technology development for the industry to help increase New Mexico chile industry competitive advantage.
Other dollars not confirmed as recurring:
- Extension received $145,000 for the state 4-H program and $40,000 for 4-H in Eddy and Chaves counties. We are working hard to try to get both of these put into the base as re-occurring. These funds are intended to support and expand 4-H capacity to work with at-risk youth. The state 4-H office will provide leadership in implementing these funds, which will be determined in part on weather these funds will be re-occurring or not.
- There was $64,000 for small-scale sustainable agriculture programs. This funding came to us at the request of growers, principally from Southern New Mexico who, support the development of a Small Farm Teaching, Research and Extension program at NMSU that will better support on going efforts around the state.
- $20,000 for an FFA outreach program. Not sure why we ended up with this one, but we will be working with FFA.
- $75,000 for 4-H science, technology and math programs in Extension. Funding that has been earmarked to expand the Memorial Middle School Agricultural Science Center in Las Vegas New Mexico. A Cooperative Extension Project that was funded last year and is up and going.
- $50,000 to do groundwork on the rural health Extension initiative in conjunction with UNM. Seed money to facilitate the development of a Extension Health Initiative with UNM Medical School. Given the challenges facing health care in New Mexico, this initiative was very favorably received by legislators, particularly those in rural communities.
- The Strengthening Family Initiative received $600,000 via the Health and Human Services Department and NMSU directly received $57,000 from the legislature.
- Capital outlay dollars included $5,500 for Extension technology and $50,000 for the food technology and testing program.

When you see Ricardo Rel, be sure to let him know how much you appreciate his hard work on behalf of Extension. Also thank him for helping me out-I learned a lot. All of you can take credit for this vote of confidence from our legislators, we received this funding because of the good work that you do and the relationships that you have built.

Although Extension received a fair amount of funding this year, I was disappointed that more of this funding was not for base programs-your programs. The increased cost of doing business and flat funding continues to challenge our base budget As has been the case for the past several years, from both the state and federal level, funding for Extension has been "earmarked" for new or expansion programs. This coming year, the Extension and Research Support Council Executive Committee, has proposed that we request a base funding increase for Research and Extension, and believe it or not, the process for next year's priorities has started. In the next couple of days I will be sending out a Zoomerang Survey that will request your input for priority issues/areas that will justify a base funding increase for Extension. Please take a few minutes to give it some thoughtful consideration. It is not enough to say that gas and salaries have increased and budgets have been flat. The Town Hall meetings planed for this year will help garner grassroots support for these priorities, as well as refine them. I am actually looking forward to next year's legislative session, we have a lot of social capital out there supporting Research and Extension at NMSU, I believe we have an opportunity to tap into it for the benefit of your programs and the people and communities you work with.

Thank you and have a good day.