SW New Mexico News

New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center in Los Lunas is set to host its annual field day on Saturday, October 19. The event aims to educate participants on various agricultural topics such as specialty vegetables and cover crops. It is open to the public at no cost.

Registration for the event begins at 8 a.m. at the science center located at 1036 Miller Road in Los Lunas, with field tours scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon. Interested participants can register online at https://rsvp.nmsu.edu/rsvp/loslunas.

Mark Marsalis, Extension forage specialist and research director at the Agricultural Science Center in Los Lunas, emphasized the significance of the event by stating, “This field day is an excellent chance for the community to come out and see firsthand the important research conducted at the science center.” He added that these educational events aim to inform the public about issues faced by producers of agronomic and horticultural crops and how they are being addressed.

The day's activities will include wagon tour research presentations covering various topics: jujube fruit cultivars presented by Shengrui Yao, grapes for wine and table by Maryel Lopez, tomatoes and agrivoltaics by Marisa Thompson, chile mechanical harvest by Stephanie Walker, landrace chiles and central Asian melons by Charles Havlik, conservation grasses from Natural Resources Conservation Center, cover crops for weed control in chiles by Brian Schutte, and pasture grasses for northern New Mexico along with alfalfa variety trials presented by Marsalis.

Simultaneously, attendees can also participate in the Valencia County Fall Farm Festival taking place at the same venue.

For those requiring auxiliary aid or services due to disability, Candace Sisneros can be contacted at 505-865-7340. Further details and early registration information are available at https://loslunassc.nmsu.edu/index.html.