{"id":615,"date":"2026-04-14T04:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T04:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demingnews.com\/?p=615"},"modified":"2026-04-14T23:54:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T23:54:05","slug":"heritage-buckle-contest-opens-to-luna-county-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demingnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/heritage-buckle-contest-opens-to-luna-county-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Buckle Contest Opens to Luna County Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">DEMING &#8211; Youth in Luna County now have an opportunity to showcase their connection to agriculture and ranching traditions through a statewide contest that highlights the importance of heritage, land, and livestock in New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The New Mexico Cattle Growers\u2019 Association has announced the opening of its annual Heritage Buckle Contest, which invites young people ages 13 to 17 from all 33 counties, including Luna County, to participate. The contest is designed to tell the stories of New Mexico\u2019s youth involved in agriculture while preserving the traditions that have long been part of rural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Participants are asked to submit a 350- to 500-word essay responding to the prompt: <em>How does your heritage advance and promote the New Mexico Cattle Growers\u2019 Association?<\/em> One winner will be selected from each region of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Regional winners will receive a belt buckle and a one-year junior membership in the association. Those winners will then advance to the statewide competition, where their essays could earn a $1,000 scholarship funded through the organization\u2019s promotions and marketing committee. The statewide winner and their family will also be recognized as special guests during the 2026 Joint Stockmen\u2019s Convention scheduled for December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Local families involved in 4-H, FFA, ranching, and other agricultural programs are encouraged to help eligible youth consider participating, as the contest provides an opportunity to share personal stories about agriculture while competing for scholarship support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Entries may be submitted by mail to NMCGA, P.O. Box 850, Moriarty, New Mexico, 87035, or by email to <a href=\"mailto:nmcgaheritage@gmail.com\">nmcgaheritage@gmail.com<\/a>. The deadline to submit essays is May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DEMING &#8211; Youth in Luna County now have an opportunity to showcase their connection to agriculture and ranching traditions through<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/demingnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/heritage-buckle-contest-opens-to-luna-county-youth\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-john-k","post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heritage Buckle Contest Opens to Luna County Youth - DemingNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/demingnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/heritage-buckle-contest-opens-to-luna-county-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heritage Buckle Contest Opens to Luna County Youth - 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