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New Mexico Leopold Conservation Award Finalists Named
Ute Creek Cattle Company of Bueyeros in Harding County. Courtesy/Sand County Foundation
LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD News:
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Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the prestigious award recognizes farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to land, water, and wildlife habitat management on private, working lands.
The finalists are:
JX Ranch of Tucumcari in Quay County: Tom and Mimi Sidwell have adopted grazing practices that create a resilient landscape and mitigate drought. These efforts have increased ground cover, which means more forage for livestock and wildlife, and less sediment in the air and water. It also pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, and increases soil’s ability to infiltrate and store water.
Pasture-cropping is designed to regenerate the soil beneath established pastures. Texas A&M AgriLife-led research to analyze effectiveness and economics of pasture cropping.
Adopting the ecologically sensitive, low-cost conservation management pasture-cropping practice could help landowners regain the health and resiliency of soils sustaining degradation over the years.
Pasture cropping, a relatively new and innovative land management system, integrates direct seeding of cool-season annual crops into dormant perennial warm-season grasses. It was pioneered by Colin Seis, an Australian farmer.
Now the potential for implementation of the practice in the Southern Great Plains is being investigated by a Texas A&M AgriLife-led team of researchers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NIFA, grant-funded project “Enhancing Soil Ecosystem Health and Resilience Through Pasture Cropping.”