NMSU Extension’s NM Indian Livestock Days offers community, education in Four Corners

With the return of an in-person event for the 2023 New Mexico Indian Livestock Days May 10-12 in Farmington, New Mexico, Four Corners region agricultural producers and New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service organizers are thrilled to have the opportunity to meet for the annual educational program.

NMSU Tribal Extension Program Coordinator Kathy Landers, who has coordinated the event for nearly 30 years, is looking forward to seeing elders and community members she’s hasn’t seen since the last in-person event in 2019.

“I’m excited this year,” Landers said. “When I started it all those years ago, I was happy to have 50 people in the room. We averaged 238 before COVID.”

“As a Native producer, I think it’s a great event because it brings resources that are sometimes lacking to Native producers because we’re so far-flung,” said John Romero, who is a registered member of the Pueblo of Laguna. “This is a great opportunity to connect with industry experts and connect with fellow producers.”

Originally called All Indian Livestock School and held on NMSU’s Las Cruces campus when it began in the 1970s, the event was discontinued in 1978 but reestablished in 1985, at the request of tribal livestock producers. In 1996, Indian Livestock Days was moved to the Four Corners region to be more accessible to clientele.

“New Mexico Indian Livestock Days is unique because of  the people in general,” Landers said. “Tribal members raising livestock face many challenges – not enough land, not enough feed on the land they have, and not enough water, just to name a few. One of their main challenges is to remain true to their ancestors and their religious beliefs. With that being said, it does not hold them back, it just makes more of a challenging experience, and it means much more to them than the average cattleman.”

Romero said another obstacle Native ag producers face is access to communications because many Native communities do not have reliable internet service, which leads to limited access to social media and other technologies.

“This is the one time of year we all come together. In the Native world, we look at each other as one big family,” said Romero, who is an Indian Livestock Days planning committee member.

This year, Indian Livestock Days will be held in conjunction with Stockman and Stewardship with a focus on Beef Quality Assurance training. The event will include live low-stress cattle handling demonstrations, industry updates, cattle health updates, information on how to improve reproductive efficiencies in arid conditions, and participants will have a chance to become Beef Quality Assurance certified.

“This is one of several activities that the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, through the Cooperative Extension Service, promotes to strengthen the ranches and beef producers of New Mexico,” College of ACES Dean Rolando A. Flores Galarza said. “This in turn strengthens the beef industry in the state and supports all communities, and in this case the Native American communities of New Mexico. The soon-to-be inaugurated facilities for beef processing on the Las Cruces campus will complement all these important efforts of the College of ACES.”

In her tenure with Indian Livestock Days, Landers believes the event has assisted the clientele in many ways.

“I think it’s helped the producers see the importance of the care of their animals, vaccinations, recording keeping and how important that is to keep records,” she said. “They’ve also learned the importance of dividing their land and grazing on different areas each year. A lot of the Native American communities are in cattle co-ops, and they get together and work in a big cattle operation. They’ve learned if they get together and go to market, they are stronger.”