Annual Field Day slated for Aug. 28

Mark Marsalis: Ag Sense

Each August, the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center at Clovis holds its annual Field Day. This year, it will be held on Aug. 28.

The event is designed to not only help producers become more productive and efficient through education, but to also inform community citizens not familiar with regional agricultural practices of some of the current issues we are facing in today’s challenging agricultural climate.

For example, one of the hot button issues these days is “green energy” or biofuels. Sangu Angadi, NMSU Crop Stress hysiologist, and I will discuss projects related to water efficient biodiesel and ethanol crops.

The extent to which this area of the U.S. will contribute to the national effort to produce large amounts of biofuels is still uncertain.

Current projects at the station are addressing the feasibility of fuel production from crops.

The large presence of the dairy industry in the region demands more water-use efficient silage cropping systems to feed large quantities of cows with declining water resources.