LOS LUNAS – Managing pest and disease challenges is crucial for a sustainable agricultural operation to prosper.

Methods to deal with these risks, as well as information on technologies to improve agriculture infrastructure will be the focus of the 2019 New Mexico Sustainable Agriculture Conference.

The free single-day conference, sponsored by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, will be presented from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus, 280 La Entrada Road, Los Lunas. A free lunch will be provided.

New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is hosting the event.

“WSARE aims to promote new and time-tested methods of agriculture that preserve our land and water while improving the lives of farmers and the community,” said Stephanie Walker, WSARE New Mexico program co-coordinator and NMSU Extension vegetable specialist. “We have an agenda of speakers on topics that are vital to agricultural producers.”

Keynote address of the conference will be “Factors in Making (my) Ranch Decisions” by Larry Cundall of Cundall Ranch in Wyoming. Cundall is a past chair of the WSARE Administrative Council and a recipient of the Wyoming Stock Growers Environmental Stewardship Award.

Presentation topics will be:
- “Putting the Sun to Work: Soil Solarization for Management of Weeds and Soil-borne Pathogens,” by Jennifer Parker of Oregon State University
- “Challenges and Benefits of Winter Cover Crops in Southern New Mexico,” by Eric Lehnhoff, NMSU assistant professor in weed science.
- “Chemical Free Weed Management with Electricity,” by Paul Neher, research and development engineer at the Physical Science Laboratory housed at NMSU.
- “An Update on Weed Management Tools,” by Bill McCloskey, University of Arizona
- “Achieving Precision Irrigation with Reduced Costs,” by Blair Stringam, NMSU plant and environmental sciences professor.
- “Defining and Incorporating Integrated Pest Management,” by Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Extension IPM specialist.
- “Bio-rational Management of Soil-borne Diseases in Annual and Perennial Crops,” by Soum Sanogo, NMSU plant pathology professor.

Online registration is available at http://rsvp.nmsu.edu/rsvp/sustainable2019.