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Time is running out to recognize the women who have helped shape New Mexico’s agricultural legacy.
The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) is reminding the public that nominations for the 2026 class of “Matriarchs of New Mexico Agriculture” close Monday, July 21 at 11:59 p.m.
This statewide campaign celebrates the respected, hardworking women whose leadership, mentorship and advocacy have left a lasting impact on agriculture, their families and their communities. NMDA encourages families, industry members and community leaders to submit nominations before the deadline.
“Agriculture in New Mexico has been shaped by generations of strong, visionary women,” said New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. “This campaign is our way of honoring that legacy—and there’s still time to make sure the matriarchs in your life get the recognition they deserve.”
The “Matriarchs of New Mexico Agriculture” campaignlaunched in 2025, with two legendary women – Mary Alice Garay and Margie McKeen – selected as inaugural honorees. They will be formally recognized this September. Promotional ads and video tributes for the 2026 honorees will debut in January, coinciding with the United Nations’ “International Year of the Woman Farmer.”
The campaign is open to nominations statewide and welcomes both living and posthumous honorees. Nomination forms, guidelines and the official campaign logo are available at elevateNMag.com.
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Replies
John Baake
Neighbor
7-18-2025 2:09pm
DEI is alive and well in New Mexico.
The 2 inaugural recipients of the award are indeed worthy of praise and recognition. Their accomplishments stand out in agriculture overall, not just a small subset.
This award however seeks to minimize their accomplishments by implying that they don't compare to men's accomplishments.
Great leaders are great leaders, and gender doesn't matter.
Since we've never had a great leader in Santa Fe, it's hard for those in Santa Fe to recognize the attributes of what makes a great leader, so they substitute uneducated guesses.
I disagree with this
This is unverified
Spam
Offensive
tom mitchell
Neighbor
7-20-2025 11:22am
that's because tolerance, and live-and-let-live are still the default setting for the majority of our citizens - and i count that as a plus, neighbor.
John Baake
Neighbor
7-21-2025 9:27am
Your ignorance is amazing.
How is a state agency discriminating based on gender a gesture of tolerance?
tom mitchell
Neighbor
7-21-2025 10:29am
okay, i'll play your silly game; how is the trump regime's attacks on LGBTQ+ citizens not a gesture of intolerence?
and your blindness is dazzling.
John Baake
Neighbor
7-21-2025 10:52am
What attacks are you referring to? I'm not aware of any action he's taken against any minority.
John Baake
Neighbor
7-23-2025 9:56am
48 hours and I'm still waiting for an example of these attacks you claim president Trump has made.
Shari Adkisson
Neighbor
7-22-2025 3:42pm
In flipping through several posts in todays issue, I have noticed that you just don't agree with most of the articles. Maybe you are looking at the wrong publications? Or are you just one of the people who love to be pains in the butt?
John Baake
Neighbor
7-23-2025 9:50am
I'm looking at 2 publications, 1 that claims to be non-biased, and the other that claims to be conservative. I'm just having some problems finding a non-biased or conservative publication in this town.
Chris Edwards
Editor
7-23-2025 10:40am
John, if all you want to do is bitch about the perceived bias of this and our 6 different publications plus our radio station, we are happy to block you and let you go play in the ADN playground. If you want to contribute to dialogue then feel free with actual facts. However, if you want to use the wall as nothing more than a bitchfest and bash every article, we can just end that. We are getting signifcant numbers of compliants on allowing the Trumpian propaganda go unanswered from you. We are happy to entertain differing points of view. Contrary to your bias we reported extensively on the downfall of the local democratic party over the last 2 years and their new attempt to rebuild. We report on a wide range of topics from investigations into school board actions, insiders attempting to sway the changes being made in city hall, etc. We have exposed local law enforcement efforts at utilizing uncertified officers in the small surround communities and more. With each of those reports actions have been taken by entities to clean up the issue. We use IPRA requests often and get the details the general public doesn't have the time to get and release those details when applicable. We operate on a skeleton crew but provide information the main local newspaper has not been providing for years. We will not continue to be a echo chamber for nonsense and continued bashing however as its is just clutter on our pages on our dime. If you have legitimate commentary, then submit it as a guest editorial and we will entertain publication. But continued nonsense on every article is a bit much with just conjector unsupported by facts. Cheers!
