Latest news with #NewMexicoChileAssociation
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New Mexico Chile Association: Crop looks good but there were challenges
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – With the chile season officially starting, New Mexicans may have already noticed that familiar aroma in the air. According to the New Mexico Chile Association, the crop is looking good, but this year also had its challenges. That telltale smell lets New Mexicans know the chile season has officially begun. 'These rains have helped us quite a bit, kind of accelerate it. We're probably about a week ahead of where we were at last year,' said Edward Ogaz, who farms chile in southern New Mexico. Story continues below News: New Mexico Chile Association: Crop looks good but there were challenges Trending: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to sell nearly 500 leftover deer licenses New Mexico News Insiders: What Happens When The Rio Grande Runs Dry? Community: KRQE Cares Shoes for Kids is raising money to put new shoes on kids at selected Title 1 schools Ogaz is also the president of the New Mexico Chile Association. Although the association said the state's chile crop looks good, farmers ran into some extra challenges this year. Those include labor issues, a hit-or-miss monsoon season, and irrigation uncertainties. 'Water's an everyday problem because we've got small amounts coming down from Colorado in the Rio Grande,' said Ogaz. That's why farmers like Jimmy Wagner of Big Jim Farms in Albuquerque's North Valley are turning to drip systems, especially as the Rio Grande ran dry this summer with little to no water for irrigation. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District told KRQE in July that it's due to below-average snowpack and the compact promising water to Texas. 'They turned off the water like a month ago, so it was like, what are we going to do? So, we have a drip system that waters it by itself,' said Wagner. Wagner said his farm is starting to harvest, and the chile is abundant and flavorful. 'When it's dry and hot like this, you get a lot of flavor, and it's hotter,' added Wagner. The New Mexico Chile Association said they don't expect a shortage of chile this year. 'I think we're probably going to have an average year as far as volume's concerned, maybe a little bit above average. I think our quality is good all the way through,' said Ogaz. However, with this year's challenges and rising supply costs, they expect chile could be more expensive. The association's message to consumers is that New Mexico-grown chile is worth it. 'Once we let chile creep in from Mexico, the price starts to cheapen. That's why we're so big in our chile association on this certified New Mexico chile because we have to protect what is ours,' said Ogaz. The chile season in New Mexico typically starts in late July or early August and could last through early October. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to sell nearly 500 leftover deer licenses
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A total of 499 deer licenses left over from the 2025-2026 big-game draw will now go on sale in New Mexico on Aug. 13 after technical difficulties led to the postponement of the original sale date. New Mexico Chile Association: Crop looks good but there were challenges This first-come, first-served sale will open at 10 a.m. MT to New Mexico residents during the first 24 hours. If any licenses remain after the first 24 hours, the sale will be opened to nonresidents at 10 a.m. Aug. 14. The licenses can be purchased through the department's online license system. To buy a leftover license, hunters must possess a 2025-2026 Game Hunting or Game Hunting and Fishing License and have completed all mandatory 2024-2025 harvest reporting requirements before the purchase. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish encouraged hunters to log in before 10 a.m. on Aug. 13 for the best chance to get a leftover license. Licenses that are available for purchase include: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Yahoo
VIDEO: Man arrested, accused of setting father's house on fire and stealing emergency vehicle
RIO ARRIBA COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – Body cam footage showed how a chaotic night unfolded in July. It started with a home set on fire and the suspect taking off in an emergency vehicle. A home was completely burned to the ground in Rio Arriba County. The suspect? The homeowner's own son. Deputy: 'We started getting information, the best witness is going to be the father, Faustin Martinez Sr., the homeowner. He's here, he's up there.' Story continues below News: New Mexico Chile Association: Crop looks good but there were challenges Trending: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to sell nearly 500 leftover deer licenses New Mexico News Insiders: What Happens When The Rio Grande Runs Dry? Community: KRQE Cares Shoes for Kids is raising money to put new shoes on kids at selected Title 1 schools That was just the beginning of a chaotic night, as officers pulled up on July 16 to help firefighters, a Rio Arriba County Sheriff's deputy said he nearly collided with an Agua Sana emergency vehicle that was speeding away from the scene. That's when deputies learned Faustin Martinez Jr. had stolen the truck, leading to a chase. Stop sticks deflated multiple tires before Martinez collided with two patrol vehicles, getting stuck in the dirt. The firefighter whose truck was stolen, told deputies a fight had broken out between Martinez and his father a few miles from the fire, where Martinez told his father, 'I knew I should have killed you last night.' That's when Martinez ran around the emergency vehicle and jumped in the driver's seat. Firefighter: When he jumped in the driver's seat, I ran and jumped in the passenger seat, and I went to push the button, and you saw I was in the truck a good ways, and then when I fell out of the truck, that's when you were coming right there head-on. As Martinez was taken to a hospital in Española, deputies said he bragged about burning his father's house down. Martinez is charged with assaulting a police officer, car theft, and arson. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A dozen trees at Fort Marcy Park cut down ahead of 101st Zozobra burning
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Residents near a park in Santa Fe are mourning the loss of a dozen trees that organizers said had to go before this year's burning of Zozobra. Some neighbors said they're outraged, while Zozobra organizers said it lays the groundwork for something better. Story continues below News: New Mexico Chile Association: Crop looks good but there were challenges Trending: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to sell nearly 500 leftover deer licenses New Mexico News Insiders: What Happens When The Rio Grande Runs Dry? Community: KRQE Cares Shoes for Kids is raising money to put new shoes on kids at selected Title 1 schools Nearby residents near Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe said they visit the park almost every day. And for decades, they say a dozen trees stood tall. But on Tuesday, those trees came down. 'It makes me really sad, it's old-growth trees, they won't be back in our lifetime,' said Shelley Bachicha as she watched the trees being cut down. Throughout the afternoon, people walked up to a fence to watch the work being done. One resident even pointed out a few of the dirt patches at the edge of the grass area, saying that's where trees used to stand. This comes nearly a week after the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe said the trees had to go, for Old Man Gloom to go up in flames for the 101st burning in just under a month. Event organizer Raymond Sandoval said the state legislature granted the city of Santa Fe $200,000 for the project, which includes replanting the trees. 'We believe this is a good compromise for the safety of the event, but it also allows us to now go back and provide shade in parts of the park,' said Sandoval. Sandoval said the community will get to help make the next decisions when it comes to replanting or additional shade structures. Without the change, Sandoval said, Zozobra's insurance was in jeopardy, since the poor sightlines were pushing visitors to crowd a nearby bridge, which was also an evacuation route. 'We have to do what we can to make Fort Marcy the safest that we possibly can,' said Sandoval. He also cited a study showing other Santa Fe venues would not be able to accommodate the event. Some community members said they weren't notified about the problem or asked for input. 'No one's against Zozobra, but the way this was conducted was really, really unfair to this community,' said David Cortez. But Sandoval said they sent out postcards to every mailbox in the area a month before they announced the proposal at a neighborhood meeting, saying, 'We were transparent about exactly what we were doing.' There will be a meeting on August 21 at the Fort Marcy Gazebo at 5:30 p.m. for the community to discuss what the money will be used for, and how it may include new trees and shade structures. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Turning up the heat at the Leg: Lawmakers mull making August "Red or Green Chile Month'
Feb. 9—SANTA FE — Reaffirming New Mexico's position as the prime location to grow and get chile, legislators are looking to permanently mark August as Red and Green Chile Month. House Bill 172 passed its first committee, the House Rural Development, Land Grants And Cultural Affairs, Tuesday morning. The two-page-long bipartisan bill is sponsored by a quarter of all state legislators. "We are trying to build an agricultural tourism industry in New Mexico, and this has to be part of it," sponsor Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, told the committee on Tuesday. Naturally, Colorado was roasted at the hearing. "Is there a tagline, like we're the best and Colorado sucks?" Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, asked jokingly. Rep. Catherine Cullen, R-Rio Rancho, who's from Colorado, said she supports the bill, too, and didn't even know Pueblo, Colorado, grew chile until she moved to New Mexico. When asked "Why August?," bill expert Travis Day explained the summer month is usually when harvest is happening, in both northern and southern New Mexico. Day is the executive director of the New Mexico Chile Association. Measures like this are usually introduced in the form of memorials, which pass more quickly through the Legislature, but Dow told the Journal after the committee meeting she wanted the celebratory month to be permanent. "We really are trying to be intentional about highlighting the season and working with New Mexico True and New Mexico Grown and farm-to-table and all these different issues around hunger," she said. And, she told the committee, the bill unites everyone regardless of how they answer the question, "Red or green?" "We didn't leave out jalapeños. We didn't leave out habaneros," Dow said. "We're going to celebrate at all."
