It’s chile pepper season, and New Mexicans are awaiting this year’s crop to be harvested and roasted – which also means it’s time for New Mexico State University’s biennial chile pepper field day. This year’s the event will be held online, due to state restrictions on gatherings during the pandemic.

The virtual event will be available starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/NMSULosLunasASC. Chile enthusiasts may watch it and share it at their leisure.

During the online program, chile growers, whether gardeners, or small, medium or large commercial producers, and chile enthusiasts will learn about the latest research the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is doing at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas.

Stephanie Walker, NMSU Extension vegetable specialist and chile pepper researcher, will give an update on research conducted in collaboration with Paul Funk of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Las Cruces, in green chile mechanical harvest research, and provide a demonstration of the machine.

Other research will be presented by the graduate students conducting the studies:
• Participatory breeding project for New Mexico, by Brad Tonneseen
• Development of easy destemming markers for New Mexico green chile breeding, by Francesca Ortega

Other presentations will include:
• An overview of New Mexico landrace chiles will be presented by Chuch Havlik, senior research assistant at the Los Lunas science center.
• Ornamental chiles for home gardens by Marisa Thompson, NMSU Extension urban horticulture specialist, and Danise Coon, senior research specialist with the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute.
• “Scouting for Chile Pests,” by Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Extension integrated pest management specialist.

Chile pepper researcher Dennis Lozada, who joined NMSU in July to lead the chile pepper breeding and genetics program, will be introduced during the program.

A chile field day would not be complete without roasting green chiles. Havlik will demonstrate the traditional roasting of chiles.

Sponsors of the various research projects include NMSU Agricultural Experiment Stations, New Mexico Chile Association, New Mexico Chile Commission, Western Region Sustainable Agriculture and Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with the University of California-Davis.

View this event on NMSU Los Lunas facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NMSULosLunasASC

Public Banking Institute invites you to join them and folks from around the country to discuss public banking the second Friday of the month at 10am MST. This hour-long interactive conversation will give you a chance to ask questions of any sort about public banking, as well as find out about what’s going on in the movement, what problems are appearing and what developments are taking place. Instructions for joining this video and audio conference will be included in your registration confirmation. If you have questions, please contact the Administrator at offi[email protected] We hope to see you then!

Calls take place at 10:00 am MST on the second Friday of each month.

To register, follow this linK:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/cbb483b293ec510f34538d7d4481ef37?mc_cid=f9e2a67e04&mc_eid=107b9b7ab1

New Mexico Healthy Soil Working Group hosts this online conversation series on soil health. Their guest will start with a short presentation, followed by conversation with participants. Join them with your questions and comments on September 15th, 5:30pm MDT.

Jeff grew up on his family’s ranch on the Rowe Mesa between Moriarty and Las Vegas, New Mexico, and currently lives with his wife Janet in southern New Mexico’s Mesilla Valley. He graduated from New Mexico State University (NMSU) with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management. He also earned a master’s degree in agricultural economics.

After college, Jeff worked for New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau as the field representative. During this time, Jeff worked to bring farmer groups and rancher groups together. The Ag Group, as it’s loosely known, still gathers every year prior to the legislative session to set policy priorities that will benefit all of agriculture. When the session gets going, the group hosts Ag Fest to showcase the diversity of New Mexico agriculture. Jeff was instrumental in making this an annual event.

Jeff first came to NMDA in 1994 as the assistant director alongside Director/Secretary Frank DuBois and then went to work as the director for the Office of Agricultural Biosecurity for NMDA and NMSU. He later launched the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center at NMSU.

Jeff was named New Mexico’s fifth permanent Director/Secretary of Agriculture in May 2011. Currently, he serves as the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) President. He is past president of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture. He’s also past Chair of Natural Resources, Pesticide Management and Environment Committee for NASDA.

To register for this event, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAXU4XQest5Ma5U0D-UuyGy8Fcz-Q8SjknJQz7e8pkVhiwYw/viewform

 
On Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 pm – 8 pm, Retake Our Democracy will moderate Water Policy, Quality and Management in New Mexico. Retake Our Democracy has assembled a tremendous panel for their discussion of the water challenges facing NM and what they are learning to be a truly shocking challenge facing NM. We all realize that we are a drought state and that with global warming and the growing climate crisis, we face an existential challenge here in NM. What many may not appreciate, is the degree to which we are fiddling while NM burns and how even if we wanted to address this challenge, we would do so with both hands tied behind our backs.

Retake will have the foremost water expert in the legislature, Rep. Melanie Stansbury on the panel along with one of the foremost water management experts in the state, Norm Gaume, the former Interstate Streams Commission Director. Also joining us will be David Gutzler, a researcher and professor at UNM. David’s work focuses on the predictability and variability of weather and climate and extreme weather events, southwestern U.S. monsoon season, long-term climate change projections, wildfires and summer precipitation, and weather and climate fluctuations affecting southwestern North America.

The fourth panelist will be Theresa Cardenas who is a founder of the Noble Renewables Group of the West; a social enterprise advocating for environmental and social change by providing strategic guidance to organizations. Formerly, she worked in partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Climate and Energy Program in New Mexico to help advance clean energy policies in a legislative, regulatory and advisory setting. She is the current President of the Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates. She is a 2013 fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute and Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

For obvious reasons this discussion may well be the most important one Retake Our Democracy has ever moderated.

To register for this event, follow this link: https://retakeourdemocracy.org/retake-zoominar-series/?fbclid=IwAR00MrZzNfz7FAJqOKRY9JJjLnnaYv8O-xr_lU_4VhkMpXPH84nBljq_QyE

With the recent defeat of the Gila River diversion project, it’s so important for us to move forward with the annual celebration of New Mexico’s last wild river. Although COVID-19 may keep us from gathering in person, the pandemic won’t stop the Gila Conservation Coalition from meeting virtually to celebrate this hard-won victory.

This year they’ll be exploring how to cultivate resilience in our communities and ecological systems in the face of the twin crises of climate change and the global coronavirus pandemic. What lessons have we learned from the pandemic that can inform our response to the climate emergency? How can we create a more just and equitable society and emerge stronger and better from these existential challenges? How do we move forward with spending Arizona Water Settlement Act funding to create a secure water future for everyone in southwest New Mexico?

Over the course of the two-day festival, we will meet online for an inspiring keynote presentation with author, agricultural ecologist and ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, panel discussions, trainings, virtual guided hikes, networking, music, poetry, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, and more.

Through Gila Conservation Coalition’s state-of-the art online conference platform, you’ll be able to watch and interact live.

The 16th annual Gila River Festival is a critical opportunity for you to learn, collaborate and get energized for the challenges that lie ahead for our community, the Gila River and its watershed.

Online registration opens August 1.

More information: https://www.gilariverfestival.org

In the wake of COVID-19, only a mere 5% of the nearly $3 trillion relief package had been allocated to the 50 states by early May. States remain desperately short of funds. The Federal Reserve money helicopter, however, flew directly to Wall Street and hovered. Banks can now borrow money virtually interest-free with no strings attached. States, on the other hand, can only sell bonds to the Fed at much more expensive market rates of 3% – 4% or more, plus penalty fees. What is behind this discrimination? What does it mean for the people? PBI Chair Ellen Brown talks with Cornell Prof. Robert Hockett and Michael Brennan, Democratizing Capital Policy Organizer for the Democracy Policy Network.

Please join Public Banking Institute for PBI Live on YouTube and Facebook on Friday Sept 18 at 1:00PM MT.