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ANIMAL & RANGE animal & range SCIENCES sCienCes

The Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences The Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Four on-campus animal facilities house: beeF CaTTle/horses/swine/sheep Students can major in Animal or Rangeland Resources and are provided with the very best of “hands on” academic instruction by our faculty. Fully equipped labs allow students access to cutting-edge research in:

LIVESTOCKNUTRITION / GENETICS / PHYSIOLOGY / ENDOCRINOLOGY / MEAT SCIENCE / WOOL / TOXICOLOGY / WATERSHED & RANGELANDECOLOGY / WEED & BRUSHCONTROL / PLANTSYSTEMATICS / GRAZINGMANAGEMENT

The Department also offers pre-veterinary studies –our graduates have a high acceptance rate into veterinary medicine programs. We offer graduate degrees at the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy levels. The M.S. or Ph.D. in Animal Science can emphasize nutrition or physiology, and offers a Ph.D. in Range Science to study range management, range ecology and watershed management. THE DEPARTMENT ALSO OPERATES

• The Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland

Research Center (The College Ranch) – 64,000 acre ranch just outside of

Las Cruces • The Corona Range & Livestock Research

Center – 28,000 acre ranch & facilities in

Corona, NM • Student organizations, including a

Block & Bridle Club, Pre-Vet Club,

Range Club, Horsemen’s Association,

Therapeutic Riding Club, &

Judging Teams • Clayton Research Center hosts research on shipping protocols, particularly evaluating the health and performance of newly received cattle, and nutrition and management from feedlot to slaughter

Dr. Shanna Ivey – 575-646-2515 • Dr. John Campbell – 575-646-6180 Dr. John Campbell –575/646-6180 / Dr. Dennis hallford –575-646-2515 http://aces.nmsu.edu/academics/anrs http://aces.nmsu.edu/academics/anrs/

Consumers Still Shopping in Stores Amid COVID-19 Spike

by Susan Kelly, meatingplace.com

Despite the nationwide spike in COVID19 omicron cases, most shoppers are taking the same number of trips to the store as they were a month ago, according to a survey this month of nearly 8,500 consumers.

The survey, conducted January 6 through 13, 2022 online by shopping rewards app Shopkick, found 59 percent of shoppers are maintaining their in-store shopping routines, and more than half (53 percent) are still comfortable participating in public indoor activities.

While 66 percent of consumers said they are not stocking up on essential items, Gen Zers are most likely to stock up (41 percent), compared to Baby Boomers (35 percent), Millennials (35 percent) and Gen X (34 percent), the survey found.

The majority (73 percent) of consumers have noticed a shortage of retail workers while shopping in-person, and 71 percent have noticed an increase in wait times while checking out.

Most consumers (73 percent) are taking additional safety precautions while shopping due to the rise of omicron. Those measures include masking (90 percent), using disinfectants on hands and carts (79 percent), shopping at less busy times (69 percent), using self-checkout (63 percent), using touchless or contactless payments to avoid exchanging cash (31 percent), and frequenting cashier-less stores (7 percent).

Shoppers also want retailers to take steps to protect them, with 71 percent saying they expect in-store safety precautions. Those ranged from disinfecting carts (84 percent expected), mandating masks (72 percent) and enforcing social distancing (65 percent) to limiting store capacity (40 percent) and putting a cap on the number of essential products each shopper can purchase (37 percent). ▫

Riding Herd with Billy the Kid

New exhibit tells of the violent beginnings of cattle ranching in New Mexico

The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces has an extensive new exhibit weaving together a many-layered story that led to one of the most infamous periods in New Mexico history.

“Riding Herd with Billy the Kid: The Rise of the Cattle Industry in New Mexico” begins with the 1866 cattle drive along what would become the Goodnight-Loving Trail in eastern New Mexico and ends with the Lincoln County War in the late 1870s and its aftermath.

While there are many facets to this story, it is summed up in the exhibit’s introduction: Cattle made men money, money made men powerful, and power led men to use violence. Billy the Kid’s brief but violent career as a cowboy and hired gun occurred during the Lincoln County War, a bitter feud over control of the state’s cattle industry.

“Early on, we saw this exhibit as a way to tell the very important story of the cattle industry in New Mexico,” said the Museum’s History Curator, Leah Tookey. “Because Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War are two of the most interesting parts of New Mexico history, and both are connected to the cattle industry, we decided to use those stories to tell the bigger cattle industry story.”

Throughout the exhibit are snippets about Billy the Kid and his connection to the overall story. “Our plan is to let Billy the Kid guide the visitor through this very important period of New Mexico history,” said Tookey.

The open range period is part of the exhibit, and other sections cover government beef contracts, the military’s role, prominent ranches, and rustlers.

The exhibit features many objects, large and small. The large is a chuck wagon. The small include artifacts excavated from the site of the 1878 McSween fire in Lincoln. In between are objects such as a rifle scabbard that belonged to John W. Poe, a lawman who was with Sheriff Pat Garrett on the night Billy the Kid was killed; 13 weapons from the time period; Garrett’s branding iron; John Tunstall’s portable writing desk; and running irons used by cattle rustlers to alter brands. Various tools of the trade for a New Mexico cowboy also are part of the exhibit.

Las Cruces artist Bob Diven created a life-sized sculpture of Billy the Kid for the exhibit, and there are many historic photographs and maps.

While the Kid rides front and center as the headliner in this story, many other colorful characters also are featured, including cattle kings, a cattle queen, merchants, and cowboys who doubled as enforcers, or “regulators.”

“The visitor will learn how the cattle kings such as John Chisum used the Texas Open Range system to settle the Territory,” said Tookey. “Visitors will be immersed in the story of the Lincoln County War…what caused it…who fought it…and how it ended.” ▫