18-04-2025
Coming Sunday and Monday
Farmers sound off on policy changes
Don Bustos calls farming a "life calling." His family has been farming the same 5 or so acres of land — known as Santa Cruz Farm — since the 1690s. It's a year-round operation, with one of Bustos' greenhouses already bursting with fresh lettuce and other vegetables.
Outside, the fields at Santa Cruz Farm are springing back to life. But in addition to the new growth, this year's planting season has brought extra uncertainty for Northern New Mexico farmers and ranchers, as they grapple with rapidly changing federal policies.
Local producers and their allies said Trump administration policy changes have halted some grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; altered some agricultural research funding; and strained the ecosystem and economy in which farmers work, making an already labor-intensive industry with razor-thin margins subject to even more variability.
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Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman takes a picture with supporters at a rally kicking off his gubernatorial campaign at Plaza Park in Las Vegas, N.M., on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
"All of the changes that are taking place with the new administration definitely have a big impact on how agriculture moves — from the upper watershed to the consumer," said Manny Encinias, executive director of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market Institute.
Governor's race gets more crowded
With more than a year before the primaries and a year-and-a-half until the general election, the field of candidates in the race for governor of New Mexico is starting to take shape.
On the Democratic side, two well-known politicians are off and running. Deb Haaland, the former Interior Secretary under the Biden administration, has already raised about $3 million for her bid. She will face Sam Bregman, the Bernalillo County district attorney who made his candidacy official earlier this month and is signaling he will run as a more moderate alternative.
Meanwhile, former Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagashima is still mulling a run. And on the Republican side, Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull became the first declared candidate last week.
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Deb Haaland chants and holds a sign alongside Members of the American Postal Workers Union Albuquerque Local 380 and supporters to show her support and solidarity outside a post office in Albuquerque on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
The race is drawing national attention already, both due to Haaland and Bregman's high profiles — as well as being a DA Bregman is father of Boston Red Sox star Alex Bregman — and as a microcosm of the battle between more progressive and moderate factions in a Democratic Party still struggling to find its way forward in the wake of a second presidential loss to Donald Trump, who did notably better in New Mexico than any other recent Republican presidential candidates.
Earth Day
It's Earth Day on Tuesday, an annual holiday established in 1970 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Pick up Sunday's paper to find out more about how some local organizations are marking the occasion and what it means to them in 2025.
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A stack of crucifixes stacked in the parking lot at El Santuario de Chimayó on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of pilgrims will journey on Good Friday through the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains en route to El Santuario de Chimayó.
Easter in Santa Fe
And Sunday is Easter, the holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ that has been celebrated by Christians worldwide for almost 2,000 years. It's arguably a bigger deal in Northern New Mexico than in many other parts of the Christian world, with the Santuario de Chimayó being commonly regarded as the biggest pilgrimage sites in North America for Good Friday.
On Sunday, find out more about what some local churches are doing to mark the day. One notable wrinkle is that this year, April 20 marks Easter both for Western-rite churches and for Eastern ones.
