SENATE MEMORIAL 19

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Crystal Brantley and Pat Boone and Candy Spence Ezzell

and Pat Woods

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO CONVENE A WORK GROUP TO DEVELOP A PLAN IN WHICH FIFTY PERCENT OF BEEF, CHEESE AND MILK SERVED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS ORIGINATES FROM AND IS PROCESSED BY NEW MEXICO PRODUCERS.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico boasts one of the most diverse agricultural industries in the United States, and the state is a leader in milk, cheese and beef production; and

     WHEREAS, raising beef is a complex process, but throughout the entire journey, one thing remains constant — the shared commitment to raising cattle in a safe, humane and environmentally sustainable way by using the latest technology and resources, and today, there are more than one million four hundred thousand cattle and more than ten thousand cattle farms and ranches in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, beef cattle ranching contributes a total of over sixteen thousand jobs with nearly one billion seven hundred million dollars ($1,700,000,000) in output and nearly four hundred fifty million dollars ($450,000,000) in labor income, yet only three-tenths of one percent of beef cattle ranches are non-family held corporations; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has more than one hundred licensed dairy herds and the largest average herd size in the nation, two thousand seven hundred cattle; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is currently ranked ninth in the nation for milk production and fourth in the nation for cheese production; and

     WHEREAS, most of New Mexico's land use is agricultural, and agriculture and related industries contribute more than forty-eight thousand jobs, nearly six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000) in output and more than two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) in labor income to New Mexico's economy; and

     WHEREAS, beef, cheese and milk are crucial ingredients to providing healthy and nutritious meals to New Mexico students in public schools, and these ingredients can be cultivated from the state's robust agricultural industry;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico department of agriculture and the public education department be requested to convene a work group to design a plan in which fifty percent of the beef, cheese and milk served to students in public schools originates from and is processed by New Mexico producers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that representatives from the New Mexico cattle growers' association, dairy producers of New Mexico, southwest cheese and Tucumcari mountain cheese be invited to the work group; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the work group be requested to provide a report of its recommendations to the appropriate interim legislative committees studying agriculture and public education by September 1, 2025; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico department of agriculture and the public education department for appropriate distribution.

- 3 -