New Mexico State University (NMSU) inaugurated the Food Science, Security, and Safety Center and the Animal Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Facility at a ribbon-cutting ceremony recently. Notable participants included New Mexico Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, state Rep. Jack Chatfield, and Acting Deputy Secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department Gerald Hoehne, said NMSU in a press release.

"NMSU opens two new agricultural buildings," stated NMSU.

The Food Science, Security, and Safety Center is poised to become a hub for food safety and security with its state-of-the-art laboratories for diverse research areas. The Animal Nutrition and Feed Manufacturing Facility is set to streamline NMSU's livestock education and research endeavors, according to a press release by NMSU.

“The buildings themselves are a great moment in the history of agriculture in New Mexico,” said College of ACES Dean Rolando A. Flores Galarza in an NMSU press release. “They are two buildings, but the areas they’ll work on are very extensive. It connects from the farm to the table and picks up all the byproducts to make an efficient system. We’ve never had something like this in New Mexico.”

NMSU's new facilities will support three key initiatives: recruitment of additional faculty dedicated to research and patents; introduction of an approved Ph.D. program in food science; establishment of the Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems Center of Excellence said NMSU.

Reflecting on these new facilities, Flores Galarza stated that "When you look at the two buildings and consider all these components, this is something very different that we’re accomplishing here by combining these efforts", adding that "These facilities allow us to move forward with three major components of our strategic plan”, according to a press release by NMSU.