Connecting Land Stewards to USDA Resources
Quivira is helping land stewards connect to resources, improve the health of their land, and meet their agricultural goals through community building, support accessing financial programs, and connection to USDA resources.
In support of this goal, we have worked with members of our community to produce radio segments in English, Spanish, and Diné Bizaad about their experiences and successes with accessing USDA funding for projects on the land they manage. Below you will be able to learn more about these folks and listen to their stories.
Listen to their stories:
Ariel Greenwood
Ariel Greenwood is a land and livestock manager and occasional painter. She has farmed and ranched in North Carolina, California, and Montana. With her husband, Sam, she now operates a large leased commercial ranch in northeastern New Mexico.
Casey Holland
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Casey has been farming in the Middle Rio Grande Valley since 2011. They are committed to effecting positive social change around small-scale sustainable agriculture and strive to increase access to fresh food for all families while providing opportunities for their community to reconnect to their region’s agricultural roots and culture.
Donne Gonzales
Donne Gonzales’ heart belongs to the small community of Chamisal, New Mexico. She has been fortunate to care for summer gardens and small livestock with her family, which instilled a great sense of querencia for gardening, community, and traditional practices. Donne was given the opportunity of being a (NMAA) Sembrando Semillas participant for over 10 years. Her current position is farm trainer for Los Sembradores farm training program and she loves teaching others about the land and being outside with mother earth and all her elements. Donne has a good understanding of soil, seeds, bugs, remedios, and food. She loves to bake sweet treats, celebrate life with her family, and learn new things with her daughter.
Edward “Bardo” Gonzales
Edward “Bardo” Gonzales lives in Chamisal, New Mexico with his wife Juliet, where they maintain the culture and traditions of acequias and small-scale farming.
Ian Colburn
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Casey has been farming in the Middle Rio Grande Valley since 2011. They are committed to effecting positive social change around small-scale sustainable agriculture and strive to increase access to fresh food for all families while providing opportunities for their community to reconnect to their region’s agricultural roots and culture.
Kristin Swoszowski-Tran
Kristin owns Ledoux Grange, an organic-certified, diversified produce and research farm high in the mountains of Mora, New Mexico, also raising yak. A multiple grant recipient, she explores novel methods and is a dedicated producer for local food and regenerative agriculture. Kristin is a member of the Southwest Grain Collaborative who grows/trials grains, pulses and landrace seeds.
Lorenzo Dominguez
Lorenzo Dominguez is co-owner of Chelenzo Farms, a regenerative farm in Cerrillos, New Mexico, which has been recognized for its work via the NMDA Healthy Soil Program, Western SARE, and a number of other grants and awards. Lorenzo is also the host of El Puente: A Bridge to Regenerative Agriculture on KSWV, a New Mexican radio show.
Sunny Dooley
Sunny Dooley, based in Vanderwagon, New Mexico, is a storyteller, folklorist and cultural consultant – collecting, learning and retelling the oral tradition of the Diné Hozhojii Hané (Navajo Blessingway stories). She has shared these stories by oral tradition in Navajo and in English for a variety of organizations, universities, elementary schools, and conferences throughout the U.S., Canada, Africa, Europe and Mexico including the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, the Denver Arts Museum, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Rhode Island School of Design (RISDI), and programs sponsored by the PEW Charitable Trust. In 2025, she executive produced the documentary film, “Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History.”
Toribio Gonzales
Farmer Toribio Gonzales has been farming his whole life, but he hasn’t always irrigated with drip tape. With help from an NRCS grant, Toribio continues to be an active parciante (member and user) of the Acequia de Lino in Chamisal, New Mexico with the addition of a drip irrigation system.