New Mexico State University (NMSU) announced its Extension Service launched New Mexico LandLink, a website addressing the state's critical land access needs. Launched to connect farmers and ranchers with landowners, the platform facilitates communication and resource discovery, providing NMSU Extension agents with essential tools to assist New Mexico residents in collaboration with the program. This initiative is geared towards mitigating potential future loss of agricultural land due to development.
The project funding background gives insight into how it came to fruition. The Thornburg Foundation funded the creation of the New Mexico LandLink site, with future program expansion backed by a New Mexico Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant. The site, set to offer a land access handbook, covers topics like agricultural land use, various land access agreements, considerations for both landowners and seekers, compensation structures, common lease agreement components, and factors influencing land value and succession planning, according to a press release by NMSU.
Weston Medlock provides perspective on why this platform is so crucial for the region. "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," said New Mexico LandLink Program Coordinator Weston Medlock, according to a press release by NMSU.
The future impact of unchecked development paints an alarming picture that underscores the importance of this initiative. "If recent trends continue by the year 2040, over 204000 acres of farmland will be lost to development which is more than six times the size of Santa Fe," said Medlock according to a press release by NMSU. "The ultimate goal is to mitigate this loss of land and create a central, one-stop shop hub for beginning farmers and ranchers and transiting farmers and ranchers to access land."
Medlock explains the function of the forthcoming New Mexico Land Access Handbook. "The New Mexico Land Access Handbook will be unique in that it will be a comprehensive toolkit for farmers, ranchers and landowners to help navigate the process of what it looks like to have someone farm your land, and what it looks like for you to farm someone else’s land," said Medlock, according to a press release by NMSU.
