For hundreds of Doña Ana County students, a trip to the Southern New Mexico State Fair will come with more than a day away from the classroom.
About 1,500 students are expected to participate in three days of AgXplorer programs centered on agriculture, natural resources and the careers connected to both.
Traci Curry, director of New Mexico Agriculture in the Classroom, said the program gives students exposure to subjects they may encounter less often during regular classroom instruction or traditional field trips.
Each third-grade class will rotate through eight stations from 9:40 to 11:40 a.m., with activities ranging from plant and animal science to livestock, agricultural technology and food production. Students may make butter, examine the parts of plants people eat, meet the exhibitors and show animals, or compare antique tractors with modern equipment.
The variety reflects a broader message organizers want students to understand about agriculture.
“It’s your food at your house. It’s the clothes you wear,” Curry said. “It’s all related to our environment as well.”
That message shifts toward career exploration Friday, when about 500 middle and high school students are expected for the STEM Ag Career Fair. Roughly 40 presenters will participate, with students rotating through 10 stations before having time to explore others.
The fair will introduce students to fields including agronomy, environmental science, horticulture, genetics, soils, animal and range sciences, food science, wildlife and conservation. Other participants represent industries students may not immediately associate with agriculture, including electric utilities and trade professions.
“We want to try and get them outside that bubble to really start thinking about the possibilities of going into agriculture and natural resources,” Curry said.
She has seen that exposure change how students think about their futures. After a previous career fair, Curry stood near the exit asking students what they thought of the experience.
“I want to be a watermelon farmer now,” one student told her.
FFA members from several area schools will also serve as tour guides, helping classes navigate the fairgrounds while introducing younger students to the organization. Students will encounter representatives from 4-H, New Mexico State University, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the Doña Ana County Extension Office and other agricultural and natural resource organizations.
Although demand for the programs remains high, Curry said organizers intentionally limit participation to about 20 classrooms and 500 students each day. Smaller groups allow students to ask questions, work directly with presenters, and participate in activities rather than simply watch.
Getting those classrooms to the fairgrounds carries another challenge.
The Doña Ana County Farm Bureau has supported agricultural field-trip transportation for more than 20 years. Curry said the organization provided about $15,000 for buses last year, helping make AgXplorer free for participating classrooms alongside free admission provided by the Southern New Mexico State Fair.
A typical bus now costs about $350 to charter, Curry said, while accessible transportation for students requiring a wheelchair bus can cost nearly twice as much. With schools balancing transportation against other expenses, field trips can be among the opportunities lost to tight budgets.
“A lot of schools have to pick, like, their one field trip they’re going to get this year,” Curry said.
Curry recalled meeting third graders after the COVID-19 pandemic, who told her AgXplorer was the first school field trip they had ever taken.
A lesson about plant anatomy can become an activity matching groceries to the parts of plants people eat. Tractors can lead to conversations about computers and electronics in modern farm equipment, while insects can open discussions about research and food production.
Curry said those experiences can help students recognize how agriculture fits into their lives and, for some, introduce a career they had never considered. Students have contacted her after previous events to say AgXplorer changed how they viewed opportunities in the field.
Even when students leave without plans for an agricultural career, Curry said the experience can accomplish something more fundamental.
“I would hope that they see the value of it, and at the very least respect it,” Curry said. “Respect it for what it does in our lives and how valuable it is to our lives.”
For Curry, that lesson carries particular relevance in Doña Ana County, where farms, agricultural organizations, NMSU and the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum give families opportunities to continue exploring those connections.
“We have so much great agriculture happening right outside the window,” Curry said. “Just get out and ask the kids, like, ‘What’s growing out there?’ And ‘I wonder how that grows?’”
