LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service has launched a new website to address the critical land access needs in the state by connecting farmers and ranchers with landowners.
New Mexico LandLink provides a platform that allows land-seekers and landowners to communicate and discover resources, and a program for NMSU Extension agents to access tools and resources needed to aid New Mexico residents.
“This website is critical because it allows a targeted approach for land-seekers and landowners to be able to find each other, communicate through a secure messaging portal on the website and ultimately, achieve land access,” New Mexico LandLink Program Coordinator Weston Medlock said.
The New Mexico LandLink site was created thanks to funding from the Thornburg Foundation, and further program expansion will be supported by a New Mexico Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant.
“If recent trends continue by the year 2040, over 204,000 acres of farmland will be lost to development, which is more than six times the size of Santa Fe,” Medlock said.
One of the resources that will soon be available on the New Mexico LandLink site is a land access handbook.
“One of the things that I think will be most appreciated about the handbook is it will have information tailor-fitted to New Mexico,” Medlock said.
—Clovis Livestock Market New
