New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service will host a Biochar-Soil Health-RAWCS Field Workshop from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center, 7200 Plant Science Circle, in Las Cruces. The workshop will train participants to make biochar from waste wood and offer strategies for soil health and water management in the arid Southwest.
This workshop will be a hands-on experience where attendees can follow the complete biochar-making process from start to finish. Attendees will be able to observe soil health practices in the field. Additionally, participants will learn about a new project called Resilient Agricultural Water Community Systems, or RAWCS, which focuses on developing innovative water and land management initiatives to enhance thriving agriculture in the western United States.
To register for this free NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences’ Department of Extension Plant Sciences event, visit https://rsvp.aces.nmsu.edu/soilhealth3.
“This field workshop will enable participants to gain hands-on experience preparing biochar from woody biomass, walk through cover crop fields and learn about factors that influence successful soil health and water management in arid croplands,” said John Idowu, Extension Plant Sciences specialist and agronomist.
During the workshop, Idowu will present on soil health management strategies for the arid Southwest and how soil health relates to water management. Professor Catherine Brewer from NMSU’s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering will present on preparing high-quality biochar from various feedstocks. NMSU’s Watershed Management Professor and New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute Director Sam Fernald is leading the new RAWCS project, which will feature speakers discussing soil-water relationships and factors affecting crop consumptive water use.
Sponsors and funding agencies supporting this workshop and the maintenance of the long-term soil health site at Leyendecker include the College of ACES, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture Healthy Soil Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Southwest Groundwater Project, and the Resilient Agricultural Water Community Systems Project.
To learn more about biochar, a recent NMSU publication, “Modified Biochar in Sustainable Arid Land Agriculture: Overview of Agronomic and Environmental Benefits,” by Rajan Ghimire, associate professor and cropping systems specialist; Juan P. Frene, postdoctoral researcher; and Idowu, offers detailed information.
For more information about the workshop, contact Idowu at 575-646-2571 or jidowu@nmsu.edu.