You’re invited to a free webinar hosted by the Drought Learning Network, and facilitated by the USDA Southwest Climate Hub and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
 

Jimmy Emmons and his family own and manage 2,000 cropland acres and 5,000 rangeland acres in Dewey County, Oklahoma. In 2017, Emmons Farm received the inaugural Oklahoma Leopold Conservation Award which recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources. Jimmy will talk about his “soil health system” and recent projects on his farm that have increased water infiltration and storage in their soil.
 

Steve Kadas is the State Resources Conservationist for the NRCS in New Mexico. He supervises the Ecological Sciences Division and his work focuses on the technology and conservation planning assistance for soil health, agronomy, range management, wildlife biology, water quality, forestry, and archaeology.  Steve will talk about the importance of understanding soil structure and the dynamics of how water is stored in or lost from soils.
 

We’ll also hear from Dr. Dave DuBois, New Mexico State Climatologist, about the current drought, the “nonsoon” and what precipitation – if any we can expect for the next few months.

For questions or technical support: caiti@nmsu.edu or 575-571-5966 

Upcoming soil health events and announcements in New Mexico

Healthy Soil Program

The Healthy Soil Program was created in 2019 following enactment of the Healthy Soil Act, the purpose of which is “to promote and support farming and ranching systems and other forms of land management that increase soil organic matter, aggregate stability, microbiology and water retention to improve the health, yield and profitability of the soils of the state.”  We are pleased to announce a second year of grant funding available for soil health improvement projects on farms, ranches, and other agriculturally productive lands in New Mexico.