Coronavirus: Information, Resources, and Updates for New Mexico’s Local Food and Farming Community

Connect • Grow • Learn

Coronavirus / COVID-19 Information

Health officials worldwide are closely monitoring and responding to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association (NMFMA) works to build the local food system by supporting agriculture producers and communities across the state. During this current crisis, the NMFMA is joining together with state agencies, local organizations, farmers, funders, and other groups across the country to provide the resources you need during this time of uncertainty.

As the current COVID-19 situation continues to rapidly evolve, check this page regularly. The NMFMA staff is working remotely by phone or email, so let us know how we can help.

Resources by Topic

COVID-19 is affecting most areas of our lives, from our businesses to who we see, to how we pay our rent or mortgage. We hope the following resources are helpful to you during this transition. Check back frequently as the resources will be updated regularly.

The Agriculture Department on Tuesday rolled out the final details of its $16 billion direct payment package for farmers and ranchers, one month after first announcing the aid program. Find out more. 

This section has a variety of COVID-related resources that may be useful for your farmers market, farm stand, CSA, grocery store, or other outlet. All of these resources have been vetted by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and the New Mexico Environment Department.

Online Learning

While most in-person events have been canceled, there are a host of online trainings and webinars:


New Mexico's Online Food Safety Training

All food safety training is now online for all growers, including those planning to sell to New Mexico's Public Education Department (PED). Here are your options: 

Open source viewing of the NMFMAs food safety video modules (no quizzes or course certificate) head here.

NM Grown Approved Supplier Program head  here.


May 2020 Webinar Series, Intertribal Ag Council featuring May Webinar Series

A webinar series, Resiliency through Agriculture, developed by team members at the Intertribal Ag Council (IAC) explored topics under the IAC mission areas of Legal and Policy, Professional Development, Conservation and Production Innovation, Food Systems, Communications and Economics. Resiliency through Agriculture is an initiative to help educate producers, provide them resources and offers toolkits that will help them make informed decisions. 

IAC, has seized the opportunity to adapt their programming to bring industry and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) information to producers in Indian Country during these unforeseen circumstances, said Jacob Pelkey with Micmac Farms. The work of IAC unites the voice of the producer in a way that starts with the grassroots needs of our communities. 

The following seven grassroots topics were featured during May, 2020. Webinar archives are linked below:

Topic: Resources in Response to COVID-19
Q&A with Intertribal Agriculture Councils Executive Director, Zach Ducheneaux. Covering resources available to Native American and Alaskan Native agriculture producers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recorded May 5, 2020 
View the recording here

Topic: Beef Marketing: Marketing, Packaging, Distributing 
Recorded May 12, 2020  
View the recording here

Topic: Traditional Plant Restoration and Innovation 
Recorded May 19, 2020  
View the recording here

guidance updates

Read the August 17, 2021, Public Health Order here.

Read the May 21, 2021, COVID-Safe Practices for Individuals and Employers here.

Here are  some highlights:

  • Vendors, volunteers, and staff must continue to wear gloves.
  • Cooking demonstrations, sampling, and social programs are still not permitted. All seating areas that would allow customers to congregate in the market are also not permitted.
  • Vendors must continue to bag produce. Farmers’ markets must make best efforts to space booths 6 feet apart. At this time, public health officials are still in the process of considering whether certain COVID-safe practices (CSPs) will remain in effect if the Red, Yellow, Green, Turquoise framework is no longer used.
  • The mask mandate stated on page 2 of the Public Health Order applies to all New Mexicans.
  • The recent CSPs adopt the mask mandate by reference on page 9. This means that customers and vendors that are fully vaccinated are not required to wear a mask unless otherwise recommended by the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
  • Businesses are required to follow the latest official guidance from the CDC regarding mask wearing and social distancing, but the Public Health Order does not prohibit any business from imposing more stringent requirements.
  • Farmers’ markets are still required to follow all applicable CSPs, especially the guidance for farmers markets on pages 18-19.