Behind the Burger
Created by the New Mexico Beef Council, we are telling the stories behind the beef in New Mexico.
Behind the Burger
From Reluctant Politician to Agriculture's Biggest Fan ft. NM Secretary of Ag Jeff Witte
Secretary Jeff Witte takes us behind the curtain of New Mexico agriculture, revealing how a reluctant political appointee became the state's longest-serving Secretary of Agriculture. With warmth and candor, he shares the fascinating journey that began when his college dean urged him to enter a field he initially resisted, ultimately discovering his passion for agricultural policy and public service.
The conversation unveils the surprising reach of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture - from ensuring gas pumps dispense the correct amount of fuel to certifying grocery scales and inspecting dairies. "We're one agency that touches every person every day," Secretary Witte explains, highlighting how his department safeguards the food supply chain from field to table while promoting New Mexico's unique agricultural products globally.
Food safety emerges as America's agricultural crown jewel, with Secretary Witte reporting that international visitors consistently marvel at our safety standards. This framework of trust allows for unprecedented food choice and accessibility - a privilege many Americans take for granted. Meanwhile, his department works diligently to expand export opportunities, now reaching 55 countries worldwide while simultaneously strengthening local food systems.
The heart of the conversation reveals the moral center of New Mexico agriculture: family farmers and ranchers who serve as pillars of rural communities. Secretary Witte passionately describes these producers as not just food providers but community leaders who volunteer, coach teams, attend local government meetings, and nurture the next generation through 4-H and FFA programs.
Perhaps most movingly, Secretary Witte addresses the mental health challenges facing agricultural producers who carry "the weight of feeding the world" while typically receiving just one paycheck annually. His mission to support these producers drives his continued service, ensuring that New Mexico's agricultural heritage thrives while adapting to modern challenges.
Ready to taste authentic New Mexico beef? Visit nmbeef.com to discover local producers and bring the flavors Secretary Witte calls "heaven" - especially when topped with green chile - to your own table.
Dion's is has a new menu item! Try their Green Chile Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza today.
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the Burger. I am Carol Ann Romo, the executive director for the New Mexico Beef Council, and with me is Secretary Jeff Witte, our secretary of ag for New Mexico. Will you introduce yourself and maybe start with your background and we can talk about how you got where you are and your love for agriculture?
Speaker 2:Oh sure. So I'm Jeff Witte and I do serve as the Secretary of Agriculture for the state of New Mexico, just finished 14 years, started my 15th year as a secretary and you know people ask me all the time how did I get here? I don't know how I got here. You know it's been quite a journey, but it's been a great one.
Speaker 2:When I finished my college at New Mexico State University, way back in the days several decades ago now, the dean of the college asked me to go talk to the Farm Bureau about being their legislative director, government affairs director, and I told him, as I told the executive VP of the Farm Bureau at the time I don't like politics and I didn't really like politicians, or at least I didn't think I did. And after four months they convinced me to take on that role and it was a deal where I'd get them through the legislative session. If they didn't like what I did, they could tell me to leave. If I didn't like doing the work, I could just leave, and no harm, no foul. What I found out was politics are what you see on TV. When you get down to it, working with legislators side by side, everybody wants to do good and I really got to where I enjoyed that policy and sitting down, writing laws and working with. You know the legends of the time Steve Reynolds and a lot of the JX McSherry some of the former legislators that were in office at the time really got the bug of trying to do good for the state of New Mexico and for the ag industry In that there was a short period of time when Governor Carruthers at the time asked me to finish out a term on the Public Service Commission and that's the commission that regulates all the electric and gas and utilities basically.
Speaker 2:So I did that. I was appointed as a public service commissioner and I was the youngest commissioner ever appointed or to serve in that agency at the time and I think still is. But what that really showed me was that being a decision maker was really cool instead of trying to be an influencer, and so I always kept that in the back of my mind. I was like, wow, you know. So there was a little bit of fun in doing making decisions and that impacted a lot of people. That's a pretty heavy responsibility.
Speaker 2:The term ended, went back to the Farm Bureau and then in 1994, the assistant secretary, deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture came open and the Farm Bureau folks encouraged me to apply for that, and several others encouraged me to apply for that. Anyway, long story short, I ended up at the Department of Agriculture as a deputy secretary and it's been a journey ever since. And then 2011, I stepped in. I was selected by the regents to be the state secretary of agriculture and I can tell you that if you want to be a cabinet secretary, you want to be me. It's the. You work with the greatest people you know in the state. You work for the. You know with the greatest. I mean, how much better does it get than providing the food for everybody?
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And taking care of those policies. So that's kind of in a very short term how I got to where I am today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, from a thinking. Isn't that how life works? You think you're never going to do something, and then that's the wrong.
Speaker 2:I went to college to be a banker with the farm credit system. That's all I was focused on, and I actually had a job offer to go to work for the farm credit system. At the same time. That was one of my bachelor's. At the same time, the university had given me an assistantship to get my master's degree and I was sitting there with those two offers on my desk. I had a desk as a student employee at the AgEcon department and Dr Lowell Catlett walked in and he said what are you doing? I said well, I'm weighing these two offers. I got a job offer from Farm Credit and he goes you would be a terrible banker, go to grad school. So I did. I went to grad school and I haven't looked back since.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, worked out well, worked out well. Well, maybe talk to me more about the Department of Agriculture and what you guys, what your goals are and what you guys do, because obviously I know, but maybe a listener doesn't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. So the Department of Agriculture in New Mexico is. We're one agency that touches every person every day. You talk about the weights and measures programs. We're checking all the gas stations and making sure you get, you know, the right octane and the right volume for what you're paying for. We're in all the grocery stores making sure the volume and the scales and the price verification is working. We check those every year, every facility every year, and then we do more on complaint basis too.
Speaker 2:We regulate pesticides, feed, seed fertilizer and making sure that everything on the pesticide side is applied appropriately per label and that things are within the right tolerances. In these other areas, fertilizer is a really unique one because under the state law, if a consumer is not getting what's on the label, then the penalty actually can go to the consumer if we can work through all the details on that. So what that means is, typically your fertilizer will be nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and it's labeled at a certain amount and we test that in our laboratories to make sure you're actually getting what's on the label and if it's short, then we have a penalty matrix that we can kick in. We're also in all the dairies in the state of New Mexico. New Mexico is a large dairy state. We're also in all the dairies in the state of New Mexico. New Mexico is a large dairy state. We're in top 10 all the time in dairy production, milk production, cheese production. We're in all the cheese plants making sure the milk quality is correct and sanitation is correct and the cheese that is operating within the guidelines of FDA operating within the guidelines of FDA. So that's on the regulatory side. We also are big in the policy arena.
Speaker 2:I've got a division that deals with ag policy and also with the soil and water conservation districts, healthy soil programs and noxious weeds. And we have the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund. Now that the governor and the legislature passed a couple years ago, that's bringing this year $3.4 million into the department that we're issuing grants across the state to benefit the soil, and it goes on. We've got a marketing and development division where we do market state ag products not only in New Mexico but around the nation and in fact around the world.
Speaker 2:Several years ago our team opened the market in China for pecans. Today we're working very hard in the India market to send our pecans to India. But one year well, this year I asked the team to review all the places New Mexico products go, and we're now sending our products to 55 different countries around the world. So it's not only do New Mexians desire our products, the whole world desires New Mexico products, and that's really kind of a neat thing. We've got the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Albuquerque. That's like the OMI for animals, and they work with the veterinary community across the state to determine animal disease issues, animal health issues, find out why an animal might have died and that kind of thing, so that we can better protect not only the livestock industry but the pet industry as well. So we touch a lot of stuff all the time and it's really a fascinating agency.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It sounds like no day is the same.
Speaker 2:No, when I wake up in the morning, I never know what it's going to be, and that's what I love about being at the Department of Agriculture.
Speaker 1:Oh, man, and what a great thing you guys do. I know we talk a lot about food safety when we're talking to students or groups. We always try and encourage people that you can have trust in the food system because of agencies like you guys that are working so hard to keep regulations and do research and do all these things that it's such an important part of the agriculture industry that I want people to have confidence in the food system.
Speaker 2:Confidence. You know, as I travel the world working with trying to promote our products and when we're meeting with importers in other countries, the number one thing they admire about the US is our food safety program. When we have inbound trade missions the folks that come in from other countries. At one time we had a very small segment of that on the food safety site. Today it's a large part of that visit because other countries they admire what we do. We have the safest food supply in the world. Everybody recognizes that. Everybody wants our food. In New Mexico we also are in charge at the department in the produce safety arena for FDA and what we call the Food Safety Modernization Act. So we're on the farms doing inspections on the produce, making sure that the farmers are doing and helping the farmers. It's not just all about regulatory, it's compliance assistance. Doing and helping the farmers. It's not just all about regulatory, it's compliance assistance. We would rather help a producer keep in compliance than have to go back in and do a recall later.
Speaker 1:And so a lot of our work is education-based. Yeah, yeah Again. I'm so grateful to live in the States and have the safest food supply. What a great thing we can be grateful for. And then it gives us too because we have a safe food system, we have the ability for food choice too, right.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, you know as you travel around, we can have any food we want, anytime we want.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And you know, the United States has a very broad production system and we're very fortunate in this country.
Speaker 1:And I was going to say too kind of a plug for what you guys do. Your Taste the Tradition website has a list of New Mexico products. If someone's looking for New Mexico products, and then your team helped us with our New Mexico beef directory and so on nmbeefcom we have, there's a tab that says like buy beef or buy local beef or nmbeef, and you can look through a directory that your team helped us with, because if you choose to buy local and then the other way to support a farmer or rancher is just buy it at the grocery store.
Speaker 2:Well, buy it at the grocery store. Encourage your grocery stores to carry the local produce and the local food, the local beef. New Mexico has long been known as a state that produces really good stuff and we ship it out of state for further value added and then we bring it back. We have really emphasized in the last several years, especially post-COVID, to enhance and grow that capacity to value add in New Mexico. We have about tripled the number of farmers and ranchers who direct market to the consumer in the last five years. That is an amazing opportunity for the consumer to get local food all the time and our farmers and ranchers are both growing to meet that demand. It's something the Taste of Tradition, grown with Tradition, program encourages, because we wanted to be able to identify those local products.
Speaker 2:And not only the raw products, but the finished goods, the salsas and the other food products that we enjoy every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you guys have done a great job with that. And again, I know the New Mexico Beef website. We have almost 80 ranchers or locally owned businesses that sell beef to a consumer With only 2 million people in our state. That's a crazy ratio compared to other states and anything, so I'm grateful for that. And again, we love providing that resource.
Speaker 2:Well, I think the consumer really likes our New Mexico Beef and I'm really happy where the New Mexico Beef Council is going and what you guys have done. You know I'm proud of the Beef Council for many reasons. You know, not only do I get to appoint the directors, but we in our department works very close with you all in your marketing programs and it's a great relationship.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and thankful for that, because sometimes your team knows way more than me, and I'm grateful you know I like to say when we're at the Department of Agriculture I'm the dumbest guy in the room, because we hire really smart, capable people.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, the best, the best. I have so much admiration for your team, so what gave you your love for agriculture?
Speaker 2:Oh, you know, I grew up on a ranch. My granddad homesteaded it in 1921. We came back. My dad came back in the late 70s, I guess in the early 70s, maybe, I don't know. Time flies and we're having fun. But just being, you know, growing up in that atmosphere and hands-on, and then seeing all of the things that are involved in agriculture that a lot of people just don't know about and they take for granted that that beef just showed up or the chili just showed up, seeing the people that are involved in agriculture is really what it's all about. And then providing that food that everybody enjoys. And you know, people talk about the way of life. Everybody's got a way of life.
Speaker 2:I love the wide open spaces and the ability to just, you know, get your hands dirty and do those kind of things. Now you might say, how do you do that? At the Department of Agriculture, my passion is to make sure others have that opportunity. And you know we're an old state and what I mean by that is our producers are the second oldest in the nation on the ground doing their thing in agriculture. We're in a period of transition. Someday those folks are going to retire.
Speaker 2:We have to make sure that that next generation has the opportunity to provide that food that we're all going to want and enjoy. That's the passion of the Department of Agriculture is really working to make sure there's that opportunity in the future. We're not going to be a nation that food just shows up. It's got to be produced someplace and the world understands that. We understand that as a nation and it takes these agricultural people to make it happen. And it's a lot of fun when I go to school systems that are serving New Mexico food products and you see the enjoyment in the kids and actually when I, when I you know, I was at Bernalillo Public Schools one time and their food service cafeteria manager was telling me that when they serve New Mexico food products their food waste is down 40%.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:The kids enjoy the fresh and the good local food. The kids enjoy the fresh and the good local food. Those are the things that really just keep me going and make this job the best job in the state really.
Speaker 1:Oh man, absolutely. Well, I'm grateful that you guys are working on so many things and I think it might even be a good minute to plug the AgriFuture programs for us, for people. Minute to plug the AgriFuture programs for us, for people. If you're interested in kind of next generation, you are that next generation and you want to be the future of ag. They have a great program.
Speaker 2:We started the AgriFuture program I don't know 10 or 12 years ago now and it was a program designed for those in the space of 20 to 40 years of age. What we found was that about a third of the participants were over 40. And it was folks that had been in other jobs and industries and they were coming back to their roots, coming back to their family land operations maybe, and they're all looking for that next opportunity in production agriculture. And it's all about production agriculture. It's growing the food products and the marketing of those food products, and when I talk about food it's including beef, and sometimes people lose that in the translation. They think of food as just the vegetables and those kinds of things. But it's all encompassing.
Speaker 2:And New Mexico, we are a small land agricultural state and what I mean by that is about 67% of our farms are less than 500 acres. And I was having a conversation with former Secretary Tom Vilsack and I told him that statistics he goes. My God, how do they compete? I said these guys are the best that there is in the United States because they can make it work. But it takes those unique marketing opportunities, the growing opportunities, to make that happen. And that's what AgriFuture is all about. It's attracting that next generation into those opportunities.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and I think New Mexico farmers and ranchers are very innovative and are very efficient, you know it boggles everybody's mind.
Speaker 2:when I'm traveling around the United States and I talk about you know we get 12 to 14 inches of rain on a good year, and in other states they'll tell me we got that last week.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And you take our land and our producers and they make it work. They are by far the best.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. I can support that, maybe a little biased, but I also support what do you think? So we kind of talked about New Mexico's landscape, so maybe I'll ask what's the most rewarding part of being in the agriculture industry?
Speaker 2:You know, I'll just tell you that from my perspective it's working with the people and I spend a lot of time with the 4-H and FFA programs in what I call the next generation of leaders, and I tell them they're not only the next generation of leaders, they're leading today and when you see the bright eyes in these kids and their thought processes, they're pure and they're very dynamic and they're open-minded about their future and that impacts all of us.
Speaker 2:Seeing the enjoyment on people's face when I go to Washington DC and we're roasting chili, the enjoyment on people's face when I go to Washington DC and we're roasting chili and you find a displaced New Mexican who smells the aroma and they come running to you tears in their eyes, missing that bit of home. New Mexico is a very unique cultural and agricultural spot in the world and we have a cuisine unmatched by anybody and when people leave they miss it and they don't realize how much they miss it until we show up with our chili roast and you know it's just. Food makes people happy and one of the things that we on the other side of that is we work really hard to make sure that those who don't have enough have the opportunity to get some, and working with the food banks and the food depots and others around the state in all their programs. It's really important that we have that opportunity so that everybody has the chance to get their belly full.
Speaker 1:Oh man, yeah, food is an ultimate connector, and gosh New Mexico has such a unique flavor profile and I talk about it all the time that I think New Mexico is a foodies paradise.
Speaker 2:It is the best.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we have so many restaurants that are locally owned and generational and they stay. Even though we have such a small population, they stay. Well, we say at our house that if a restaurant survives in New Mexico, it's because it's good, it's good. Because there's not enough people to keep it.
Speaker 2:if it was not, yeah, you know, and a lot of folks don't realize that is, that New Mexico is a very small population state.
Speaker 1:Very.
Speaker 2:There are cities, many, many cities, that are bigger than our entire state as a population, and we're very fortunate, I think, to have the number of good restaurants and the good businesses that we have in the state because of our limited population, and that's both good and bad when you talk about population. But it's also what makes New Mexico special and unique is that our wide open spaces and opportunities recreate in those spaces as well. But you talk about cuisine and New Mexico's got it, louisiana has it. I once took a professor from the University of Minnesota to supper at a very local restaurant in Albuquerque and then we were on a return visit up to Minneapolis and his first words were I can't take you to any place that's good, local, because we just have food. We don't have anything like you guys have in New Mexico. I thought that was a really big compliment to our folks in the state.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, and I think it's. I always say New Mexico is America's best kept secret, but then we brag on it so much it's not much of a secret anymore. So so, yeah, yeah, we'll. We'll see what. What changes in the future because, uh, we know, we know it's wonderful, other people are going to find out. Um, what is? What is something that you're excited about that you're working on or your team's working on coming up?
Speaker 2:You know there's there's a lot of things that that are coming up in the future. One of the things I mentioned a little bit earlier is the opportunities for international trade. We grow a lot of pecans in this state and basically around the world. Pecans are known as the healthiest nut that there is. Maybe the walnut folks or the almond folks, pistachio folks will give us a little competition every now and then. You know it's like which is better northern Chile or southern Chile? I just like Chile.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as long as it's New Mexico.
Speaker 2:As long as it's New Mexican, chile, we don't want any of that stuff from. You know the other side of the state line, but when you talk about the opportunity, how and create wealth in the state by exporting products and adding value to the producers here is a big deal, and so we're really working hard on that. That we have and we keep open those supply chains and the opportunities for our local producers to reach the consumer in New Mexico is is another, and it's not an overnight process. It's one of those processes that takes several years and and getting both the supply side right but the demand side right and and the timing you know.
Speaker 2:The other day I was at the food meeting in Albuquerque, the first food conference, and the public education department said we served 55 million meals last year in public ed through the school systems, and my comment back to that was couldn't you imagine the impact that if those meals just had one or two New Mexico products on them? Those are opportunities that have been there that we haven't just had the opportunity to capture. And now we've got, you know, a meat facility in Roswell that has changed their entire production line, a value-added rate and get healthy food to the kids that need it every day. So those are just some of the things that we're pursuing. Soil and dealing with the environmental stuff is really critical In a dry state in the legislature past that Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund and really making sure that we deploy those resources appropriately to help mitigate some of the dust storms and take out noxious weeds. We're going to have a huge weed problem in the fire country where we've had hot fires, and so having my staff get geared up to address those as they start cropping up is going to be a big deal. So a lot of things I'm happy about and excited about.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. What a great thing to have. You know too many Can't just say one. What a good thing. What's your favorite part of the beef industry, or maybe something that you think people don't know about raising beef in New Mexico?
Speaker 2:My favorite part of the beef industry is the end product. That's a great favorite. I'm a big fan of hamburgers, ribeye steaks and prime rib.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Prime rib is probably the sleeper product out there because in my opinion it's one of the easiest things to cook and smoke on a grill and get it ready and you almost can't mess it up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was shocked because it's the first time I made it, which was, you know, probably a decade ago. But I was scared, you know, because it's an expensive, really valuable product and it's so simple. There's like three steps salt pepper product, and it's so simple, there's like three steps salt pepper, slow roast for three hours at like 125. Exactly, and then reverse sear at like 500 for 15 minutes and you're done and enjoy, oh and let it rest.
Speaker 2:Let it rest. Yeah, you got to put that. Sorry, I interrupted. No you got to put that 20 minutes of rest on there because people don't understand how important that part of the process is. Yeah, but it's and it's so good and you know nothing brings people together like a table full of good food. And prime rib and ribeye steaks and hamburgers are like the, and when you add green chili to the hamburgers, it's you know, it's heaven.
Speaker 1:It's over yep.
Speaker 2:You know. But the thing about cattle ranching and raising cattle that you know we talk about a lot within our circles but a lot of people don't understand it. It's a multifaceted entity. You're not only taking care of the cattle, but you're taking care of the landscape, you're taking care of the wildlife. There's a lot of intrinsic things going on out there that people take for granted, that just ranchers just do, and then it's part of the community. When you drive across this state and I encourage people when you're driving from Albuquerque to Roswell, you pass through a lot of open range and you see the livestock out there. What else could there be? And it's those folks that are really taking care and raising the food products that we all enjoy and we should not take that for granted we all enjoy and we should not take that for granted, absolutely, absolutely, I think.
Speaker 1:One thing we just had a advertising campaign with some billboards and one of the things, one of the focus was welcome to beef country, new Mexico is beef country, new Mexico is beef country.
Speaker 2:And the other part about that is is about 98% of our folks, and I don't even know the 2%, where that falls, but 98% it's all family farmers and family ranchers. These are people who are part of your community every day. They go to the school board meetings, they go to the county commission meetings, they go and support the schools and the sports and the FFA and the 4-H activities. That's what they do and that's their life and that's, you know, the best part about being in New Mexico, and not only in rural New Mexico, but even in suburban New Mexico. There's a lot of great agricultural activities going on and we just have to make sure we don't take that for granted.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, I think. Ranchers and agriculturalists in New Mexico and I'm sure it could be repeated across the country and the world, but they are pillars of their community. Absolutely, they're the first to volunteer, they're so busy because they're coaching a team and they're, you know, doing just so many things and volunteering and I just think that that's wonderful.
Speaker 2:Paul Harvey hit it right on the nose with his you know, and God created the rancher. And you know, just to show you how old I was, I was at the FFA convention when he gave that speech in Kansas City and you know it hit home that day. It was an amazing thing to attend and when we heard it again on the Super Bowl commercial it brought back a lot of good memories. But it really is a great message.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I get goosebumps thinking of it and if you haven't listened to it, it is so Paul Harvey and you can look up. So God Made a Farmer, god Made a Rancher, and he's talking about he needed someone to care for the land and needed someone that would be there, you know, in the middle of the night, and it's oh gosh. It's just the most wonderful example of exactly, it's the best.
Speaker 1:Yep, exactly, and you know, I think he refers to them as farmers. But a lot of times we say agriculturalist or producer or rancher, now too. But at the heart of it, it's that person that cares for agriculture and grows your food, grows our food, grows the food. Yep, is there anything else you'd like to add about the beef industry or NMDA or anything like that that we kind of haven't asked?
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a big question.
Speaker 2:That's a big question.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, I think we've hit on it a little bit. New Mexico is a big beef state. When you think about we're a state of almost 78 million acres. 44 million of that is in agricultural production and probably only about 600,000 of that is in basically livestock production. These communities around the state could not exist without the rancher and the farmer. The farming and ranching economy is a pillar of almost every community and every county in this state. There's, you know, outside of Los Alamos, Bernalillo, maybe, Dona Ana. Everything else relies on some form of agriculture to support that community.
Speaker 2:I remember back in the day when this was 30 years ago or maybe 35 years ago, when a lot of the dairy started moving into the state and into the Roswell area. Roswell had just lost their Air Force base. They really concentrated on what next, and dairy was a big part of that and it really revitalized that Chavis County area and it was agriculture. Agriculture is a stabilizing base in every community and it's really something that we're proud of and that we work at the Department of Agriculture every day to ensure that the future has that opportunity.
Speaker 1:So, well said, I feel like I know the answer to this and you've maybe said it, but why do you do what you do? Why do you keep putting yourself out there for producers and promoting agriculture in New Mexico? What makes you keep going?
Speaker 2:You know, when I go to a FFA convention or a 4-H convention, when I do the AgriFuture conference and I listen to those young people and I would tell you that people in my positions don't typically listen a lot. I listen to those young people and I hear their dreams typically listen a lot. I listen to those young people and I hear their dreams and I hear their, what they view the future is and I still want to be a part of that. I want to help shape that for those, that next generation, those kids, those new leaders that are coming into existence all across the state of New Mexico. But I also want to have that opportunity for those ranchers who are at the end of their working life and want to have that opportunity to transition. We have to be there for them as well and we have to make sure that they have that opportunity to pass it on to the next generation. You know, we have to make sure that people have the tools they need in their toolbox to really look at the future.
Speaker 2:A lot of I help with the farm credit system, ag America. We did a video on mental health and people don't realize the stress that's in the agriculture community. These folks have the weight of feeding the world on their shoulders. In a state like New Mexico, they also have the weight of past generations on their shoulders and no one wants to mess that up, and that puts a lot of pressure on our agricultural folks. So what keeps me going every day is to make sure they have that opportunity to not have so much stress and have the right tools to operate in the future.
Speaker 1:And that's such a noble cause. And, yeah, I think, the weight of the world, and then so many outside factors that they can't control, with weather and climate, and just so many things that absolutely I think the mental health of our producers is paramount and it's not always talked about.
Speaker 2:It's not and when we think about it, our agricultural folks typically get one paycheck a year. People in town or with other jobs will get maybe 24, 26 paychecks a year, get maybe 24, 26 paychecks a year and when you're working an entire year for one payday and it can all be lost with a hailstorm, with a livestock disease issue or any other catastrophic event, wildfires. That's a big burden that our producers face and we've got to be there to help support them and make sure we do what we can so that those things don't happen.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And one of my favorite things is kind of telling the story of the producer, and that's what the goal of the podcast is is tell the story so that we can send love and support to the people that grow our food.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and these are important and it's important to create those opportunities, and I want to thank the Beef Council. Marketing beef on a general basis is something that the producers around the United States have never done a lot until the Chekhov program came into existence, and this has given them an opportunity to really showcase not only the great taste and flavor and everything that comes with beef, but also the health benefits as well, and so it takes all of us and all of these programs to keep it in front of the consumer and keep all these folks doing what they do best.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'm honored to you know, follow the cause and work for the New Mexico Beef Council and it does take all of us Okay. So one final question we kind of already talked about but most important question your favorite way to eat beef, if you could? Pick one what's your favorite way to eat beef With my hands?
Speaker 2:eat beef If you can pick one. What's your favorite way to eat beef With my hands? You know my favorite. I've got like three favorites.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:My go-to. If I was on you know, they came to me and said this is your last meal. What's it going to be? It would be a green chili cheeseburger. I just love the fluffy big green chili cheeseburgers. And cooked you know? Medium, maybe medium-light, there's nothing better. But if I, you know, then I go to the ribeye a good about 142 degrees cooked.
Speaker 1:Very specific.
Speaker 2:Very perfect in their temperature. And then that prime rib is something you enjoy with the family and getting your friends together and that kind of thing you know, around our table it's beef, beef all the time. And we just growing up on a ranch. This was what we did.
Speaker 1:Right, can't help it.
Speaker 2:So you enjoy that good prime beef.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Well, thank you for enjoying Beef at your Table and we thank you for the work you do for the agriculture industry and representing producers. And then thank you for saying yes to the podcast.
Speaker 2:My honor. You know this is great. Thank you for doing it.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, thank you and we'll see you next time. Behind the Burger is a podcast produced by the New Mexico Beef Council with the goal of telling the stories of the cattlemen and cattlewomen of the New Mexico beef industry. Thank you for joining us for today's episode. If you'd like more information, please visit nmbeefcom. Whether it be a burger, a steak or another beef dish, we hope you're enjoying beef at your next meal.
