Local News
Photos: Just foaling around
A 3-week-old colt rests with dad, Picasso, a paint horse, and mom, Wikket, a palomino, as they keep a close eye on him earlier this month south of Durango. The…
Agriculture
Columnists
Conservation can be delicious
The value of the pattern shift is significant only if the high and low pressure systems works in our favor, not just the increased heating of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean…
Regional News
Olathe sweet corn’s most famous grower scales back operations
Tuxedo Corn Co. farmer and founder John Harold of Olathe checks his crop in a field west of Olathe, on Friday, July 16, 2021. (William Woody for CPR News) Roughly…
Local News
Durango Farmers Market to host six events on Main Avenue
Organizers cite strong turnout and a boost for downtown businesses
Food
See how mezcal is made in Mexico
A worker cuts an agave pineapple used to produce mezcal in Nejapa de Madero, Oaxaca, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. In many villages in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the country’s…
Food
Mezcal’s popularity is booming in the U.S. That comes with a growing environmental cost in Mexico
A waiter serves a glass of mezcal at In Situ distillery in Oaxaca City, Mexico, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Claudia Rosel) “We were taught when to harvest agave, how…
Southwest Life
Colorado farmers battled biblical grasshopper plagues in 1876
150 years ago this week, spring planting season began with warnings about the return of Rocky Mountain locusts
Southwest Life
The more things change…
We all know the adage “The more things change the more things stay the same,” right? Well, it rings true once again. I had an idea for this month’s column,…
Business
Rivalry between two agricultural overtime bills settled at Colorado Capitol
Colorado lawmakers want to change when overtime pay kicks in for agricultural work. (Hart Van Denburg/CPR News file) What began as a showdown between two competing agricultural overtime pay bills…
Southwest Life
Who’s ready to garden?
OK, a quick show of hands: How many of you are ready to get out there into the yard or garden? That’s what I thought. If we can’t ski without…
Food
A traditional sausage in the shape of a horseshoe is ‘ironed’ for dryness in southeastern Serbia
Misa Rajic irons sausage using a glass bottle in the attic of his home in Pirot, Serbia, on Feb. 13, 2026. (Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press)cca The “ironed sausage” – or “peglana…
Food
A kaleidoscope of oddball tomatoes to try as seed-starting season nears
I can think of no better summer meal than a thick slice of a homegrown Oxheart between two slices of white bread, adorned only with salt, pepper and maybe a…
Food
Backyard vegetable gardens are healthy for people and the planet. Here’s how to start yours
Lettuce seedlings rest in a container under a blue light in Boston on Dec. 8, 2015. (Steven Senne/Associated Press)cca It doesn’t get more local, organic and in-season than a backyard…
Local News
Bayfield town board approves rezoning for faith-based arena project
Proposed facility would host rodeos, stock shows and worship events
Travel
India’s migratory beekeepers and their hives follow the flowers to make the honey flow
A migratory beekeeper holds a piece of a beehive in the Binnabari district of Assam, India, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.cca At dawn, they eat a simple breakfast and won’t…
New Mexico
New Mexico lawmakers advance $2 million for federally defunded farm-to-food bank program
Lawmakers also approve bill hiking fines for stealing N.M. water
From the Extension Office
Women in agriculture: A climate of resilience
I know a lot of our farmers, ranchers and gardeners are men, but right now I want to put a spotlight on the amazing women in our community. La Plata…
Local News
Photo: Winter tomatoes
Alice Dwyer, an AmeriCorps member at the Durango School District Soil Outdoor Learning Lab, works on a tomato plant in the grow dome Tuesday at Riverview Elementary School. Tomatoes and…
Local News
Southwest Colorado yaks offer healthy, eco-friendly beef alternative
Animals that evolved on the Tibetan Steppe becoming more popular across America
Local News
Sunnyside plant one piece of food security system in La Plata County
‘Americans have become very separated from where their food is produced,’ owner Jerry Zink says
Southwest Life
Getting the best out of your Christmas cactus
A Christmas cactus (Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery)Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery – Heather Houk Whether you call it a Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter cactus, it is botanically known as…
Southwest Life
Stewards of Colorado’s sweetest crops on high alert as invasive mussels gain ground in water supply
Wine grapes bask in the sun in Palisade, Colorado, in July, 2025. Water suppliers in the Grand Valley have started treating part of their irrigation systems to kill invasive mussel…
Business
Colorado ranchers say White House beef policy making tough job even tougher
Ranchers say the Trump administration’s decision to buy more Argentine beef was damaging during the time of year when they sell their cattle
Local News
Escalante Middle School students learn value of agriculture in greenhouse class
Seventh and eighth graders grow and sell their own plants, herbs
From the Extension Office
What team are you on?
When I say cranberry sauce, many of you can hear the distinctive slurp sound it makes sliding out of the can and onto the dish, before being sliced into rounds…
New Mexico
Local growers honored for promoting New Mexico grown food
A total of 11 local growers, schools in San Juan County recognized
Local News
La Plata County poultry farmers raise Thanksgiving turkeys
producer helps shape legislation to support regional agriculture
New Mexico
New Mexico wolf relocation prompts outcry from advocates
‘Taylor’ the latest gray wolf to wander outside government boundary
Food
Fruitful advice for getting the most from a refrigerator and making groceries last longer
Groceries lay on a counter before being sorted for storage in the pantry or refrigerator Oct. 25, 2025 in Falgstaff, Ariz. (Cheyanne Mumphery/Associated Press) There are several methods to store…
Food
High in Peru’s Andes, villagers carry out centuries-old work of collecting salt
Uriel inspects one of his family’s salt ponds at Salineras de Maras, Maras salt mines, in the Sacred Valley near Cusco, Peru on Aug. 31, 2025. (Alie Skowronski/Associated Press) “Today…