Agricultural Science Centers In New Mexico: Challenges and Successes.

New Mexico State University has 13 Agricultural Science Centers (ASC) distributed throughout the state; eight dedicated to crops research, three to animal and range science, one to crops and livestock, and one to public school science education.  During the 1980s, retirements coupled with the economic recession resulted in all stations shrinking in workforce; many essentially becoming one-scientist operations.  Subsequent state legislative support garnered appropriations for specific ASC’s resulting in funding not only for faculty lines, but also operations and capital improvements.  Consequently, ASC’s are staffed nearly as well today as at any time in the past.  However, shifting population to urban areas and erosion of budgets through inflation and actual budgetary rescissions may limit the ability of ASC’s to respond to future needs.  Much of the work at ASC’s historically focused on variety trials, new crop introductions, and variety development.  ASC’s still serve the immediate needs of their regional clientele through variety testing and new crop evaluations, but also look to future opportunities, such as agricultural use of recycled water, alternative energies, biofuels, water conservation, and small and new farmer needs.  Individual station priorities are established in consultation with advisory boards.  These new opportunities, pursued often through competitive grants, broaden the mission of the ASC’s to include national and even international research issues in addition to the traditional regional focus.  Specific examples will be discussed.