NMSU hosts youth agriculture camp

A group of 28 teens participated in the New Mexico Youth camp at the CS Cattle Co. ranch near Cimarron last month.

The camp, presented by New Mexico State University’s College of Agriculture Consumer and Environmental Sciences from June 13-18, aimed to get young people aged 15-19 interested in agriculture.

“If we can stimulate some interest to go into (this) as a career, that’s good,” said Otero County Ag Extension Agent Sidney Gordon in a statement. “We want to give them a realistic expectation of what that is. Agriculture is a tough industry. It’s not extremely lucrative. It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. The trend was we were losing young people coming on... We have to have someone growing the food. I think a vast majority of Americans take for granted who produces that food.”

The camp taught ranch management skills and collegelevel instruction on managing financial statements, marketing strategies, quality beef production, and management of natural resources and wildlife on CS Cattle Co.’s 130,000 acres. Camp attendees include Morgan Adams, Kelsy Armstrong, Reid Bankert, Augustine Cardiel, Teressa Cardiel, Guadalupe Carrasco, Allen Castellon, Antonio Chavez, Kendall Crum, Cody Detweiler, Shana Elkins, Lauryn Harris, Samuel Harris, Amanda Hibbard, Lily Johnson, Analiese Malaney, Elida Miller, Preston Miller, Thur-Khem Montoya, Tara Neeley, Marisol Olivas, Myra Olivas, Tatumn O’Toole, Stoney Price, Colton Priest, Brook Trujillo, Joel Villanueva and Ryan Webster.