Agriculture

Farmers and ranchers play a critical role in New Mexico’s economy. As a $4 billion industry, our farmers help drive the economy and have shaped our state’s history, as many growers in New Mexico come from families that have cultivated land for generations. However, many challenges today such as water shortage and wildfire have made farming difficult.

I am strong proponent and cosponsor of Senate’s bipartisan farm bill, which aims to help our farmers and ranchers who face difficult times because of the severe drought affecting the country. The bill reforms a number of the existing subsidies for crops, and eliminates the direct subsidy payments that farmers don’t need, providing a saving of about $5 billion per year. It reauthorizes federal funding for important programs including, soil and water conservation, rural economic development, disaster assistance, renewable energy, and food and nutrition programs.

Latest

  • Udall, Heinrich Announce $1.1 Million Grant For NMSU Sustainable Agriculture Research

    U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that New Mexico State University (NMSU) Agriculture Extension Program has received a $1.18 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The Resilient Agroecosystems in a Changing Climate award will fund research into the best strategies for arid land farmers and ranchers in the Southern Great Plains in Union County, New Mexico, Las Animas, Colorado, and Cimarron County, Oklahoma to adapt to times of drought. Read More

  • The State Of Rural Communities: A Report

    Recently, the Joint Economic Committee Democrats released a report that evaluated that state of the economy in rural communities, and proposed policies that could help them. Donna Resendez examines this report, with the help of a JEC press conference featuring Senator Martin Heinrich. Read More

  • N.M. Democrats Introduce Bill To Help Farmers In Underserved Communities

    Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujánintroduced bicameral legislation to improve access to assistance for certain groups of farmers. The Assist Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2018 would reauthorize, strengthen, and improve the Outreach to Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program at the Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Read More

  • Senators raise concerns over retaliatory pecan tariffs

    U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich on Friday sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to express concern with the retaliatory tariffs implemented by the Chinese government on 128 American product lines, including an additional 15-percent tariff on U.S. pecans. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich Raise Concerns With Retaliatory Chinese Tariffs That Hurt N.M. Pecan Growers

    Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to express concern with the retaliatory tariffs implemented by the Chinese government on 128 American product lines, including an additional 15 percent tariff on U.S. pecans, in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum products imports. New Mexico is the second largest pecan-producing state in the U.S. Read More

  • NM Democrats Urge USDA to End Hiring Freeze, Restore Critical ‘Customer Service’ Staff at NRCS, FSA

    Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M) and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M) urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to lift the USDA's current hiring freeze and restore staff field-based positions at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA). In a letter to Perdue, the lawmakers said that severe understaffing at these agencies -- an existing problem made worse by the hiring freeze - is hampering the delivery of the technical assistance, reimbursement, and support that New Mexico’s farmers and ranchers need. "These agencies are past the point of being able to do more with less and are now having to do less with less," the lawmakers wrote.  Read More