Rick Kingsbury of Pecos Valley Grassfed Beef at the SF Farmers’ Market

Basing our program on revenue from livestock puts us squarely in the shoes of the ranchers we work with. It forces us to walk the talk and face the same issues as our ranching membership. Constant maintenance of aging infrastructure, unpredictable rainfall and the rising cost of fuel are challenges that we, and all other ranchers face every day. One response to these multiple challenges is to increase ecological and economic resilience by testing new models and approaches. We are constantly working to promote resilience by exploring new ideas for water management, breeds of cattle, monitoring techniques, energy conservation, and ways to improve land health.

Re-localizing food in SF is dependent on the success and resilience of local ranchers, who also promote and maintain open space and well-managed land. Re-localization entails the following (at a minimum):

The Development of Local Food Sources:
Local agriculture depends on working landscapes. Innovations currently taking place at the nexus of agriculture and ecology require healthy lands. Could SF feed itself? Could the State of NM? And if not, why not, and what can we do to stimulate local food and energy production?

Farmers and Ranchers Become Important Again:
Not only does local food require local land; it also requires local people with local knowledge. This means that right now we need to figure out how to keep the current generation of farmers and ranchers on the land, and to encourage the next generation to stay, come back, or give agriculture a try. In addition, we have to find creative ways to pass the knowledge of how to use the land sustainably from our elders down to our youth.

Restoration Will Become An Important Business:
Producing local food and energy from working landscapes, especially in quantity, requires healthy land as well as best management practices that work within “nature’s model.” However, while the toolbox of progressive stewardship is now well developed, a great deal of our land is still in poor condition (for a variety of reasons) requiring substantial restoration and remediation efforts.

Ultimately, the goal is to create Sustainable Prosperity. Ecosystem services have declined partly because their conservation has not been seen to be in the economic self-interest of important portions of society. As a result, conservation, including the restoration and maintenance of natural systems, has become primarily a subsidized activity, accomplishing its goals principally through: (1) direct or indirect governmental funding; (2) as a by-product of agricultural activity; (3) philanthropy; or through some combination of all of these. Conservation remains subsidized for a variety of reasons, most importantly its high cost. But can conservation begin to pay for itself? We think, ultimately, it can.

Craig Conley is Associate Director of the Quivira Coalition and Project Manager of Quivira’s Valle Grande Ranch on Rowe Mesa. He may be contacted at 505-820-2544 or email cconley@quiviracoalition.org.
Quivira’s web site is www.quiviracoalition.org.