Jay Gogue, Interim President of the NMSU System | New Mexico State University
Jay Gogue, Interim President of the NMSU System | New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University's Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center will host a field day on November 15. The event is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the center's headquarters, located at 9912 County Road E079 in Las Cruces. Attendees can find the location by searching for State University Ranch Headquarters on Google Maps or using coordinates 32.530294, -106.804344.
Andrew Cox, research director of the NMSU Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center, highlighted that this year's field day "will provide an overview of CDDRC research activities that can assist ranchers and natural resource managers with rangeland, wildlife and livestock management throughout New Mexico and the southwest."
Registration for the event is available online at https://rsvp.nmsu.edu/rsvp/chihuahuan, though walk-in attendance is also welcome.
The field day will feature several research presentations covering topics such as hydrologic connectivity in arid shrublands, remote-sensing tools for decision-making on arid grasslands, agrivoltaics research, interactions between oryx and cattle on ranches, and updates to precision ranching technologies on the NMSU Dashboard for Precision Ranching.
Precision ranching technologies are designed to enhance livestock management and rangeland monitoring by allowing producers to track livestock locations, water trough levels, precipitation, and forage production in real time. These technologies were developed as part of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Coordinated Agriculture Project.
Agrivoltaics involves combining solar energy production with agriculture on the same land area. The U.S. Department of Energy describes it as agriculture production under or near solar panels. NMSU researchers are collaborating with USDA Agricultural Research Service Jornada Experiment Range researchers to study how solar arrays affect soil health, forage production, and interactions between livestock and wildlife.
For those requiring auxiliary aids or services due to disabilities to participate in the event should contact Luiza Cardone ahead of time at 575-646-3586 or lcardone@nmsu.edu.
Further information about the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center can be found at https://chihuahuansc.nmsu.edu/index.html
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