The New Mexico Department of Agriculture hosted the Second Annual Binational Livestock Meeting recently in Las Cruces.
The purpose of the meeting is to improve and benefit the livestock industry by sharing experiences and strengthening relationships with New Mexico’s counterparts in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Last year’s inaugural meeting was held in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.
“The binational meeting provided a great opportunity to showcase New Mexico livestock and dairy quality, and it allowed us to continue to build on an already strong partnership with our neighbors from Mexico,” said New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. “Our producers share many of the same challenges and opportunities and enjoy working together to benefit producers from New Mexico, Arizona and Sonora. As a region, we are stronger together.”
The meeting began at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum with speakers and a roundtable discussion. Witte spoke at the meeting, along with New Mexico Cattle Growers Association President Tom Sidwell, Sonora Department of Agriculture Secretary M.S. Julio Cesar Corona Valenzuela, Secretary of Unión Ganadera Regional de Sonora Lic. Rubén Molina Molina and Peter Mundschenk of Arizona Department of Agriculture.
Meeting attendees were then taken to the New Mexico State University Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center north of Las Cruces, where they learned about cattle nutrition, reproduction and the latest technology in rangeland management.
The meeting concluded with attendees learning about the dairy industry in New Mexico. Robert Hagevoort with NMSU Dairy Extension gave a presentation, the attendees toured F&A Dairy and they visited a Big Sky Dairy Farm.
For more information about the Binational Livestock Meeting, please contact Juan Sanchez, NMDA marketing specialist, at 575-646-7090 or [email protected].
