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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia, MJ

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/10/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Hispanic Farmers & Ranchers of America

SB 447

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$195.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to: HB 285 and SB 235

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (HED)

NM Department of Agriculture (NMDA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 447 appropriates $195,000 from the general fund to the New Mexico department of

agriculture (NMDA) to pay for marketing specialists, an administrative assistant, travel, and

office expenses for the Hispanic Farmers and Ranchers of America, Inc. (Hispanic farmers and

ranchers).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $195,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

general fund.

Senate Bill 447 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

NMDA indicates that the Hispanic farmers and ranchers have developed a business plan and are

currently working to create a producer cooperative. The Hispanic farmers and ranchers have

worked with over 75 small producers to establish market share for onions, lettuce, cabbage,

sweet corn, melons, and other crops.

HED further points out that in 2005, a HFRA business plan was developed. One goal highlighted

in this plan is to compete with agricultural markets outside of New Mexico, across the nation and

in Canada. Some of the agricultural products HFRA aims to market include chile, lettuce,

watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, pecans, and onions. Recent climate change and severe

flooding in southern New Mexico has resulted in a shortage of onions due to storage limitations.

The price of white jumbo onions, for example has nearly doubled in price within the last year.

The work of HFRA assists in maintaining the inventory and marketing capabilities in order to

meet agricultural needs throughout the country and for neighboring countries to the north and

south. This in effect would support local economies of small farmers and ranchers - the makeup

of American communities and businesses critical to the State of New Mexico.

HED further points out that this request was not included in the department’s recommendation

for FY08.

GM/csd