Michael Barnes is the farm ranch manager at the Creighton Livestock Research Center, part of the NMSU Agricultural Experiment Station. Burns, a native of Boise, Oklahoma, earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education with minors in animal science, agriculture, natural science and craft from Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
Burns has been with NMSU for six and a half years and has been involved in several research projects at the center, including a project evaluating perennial and annual forage production as a sustainable strategy in the southwestern United States.
Before coming to NMSU, Burns taught agriculture in Rifle, Colorado. Vici, Oklahoma. And at Creighton, he also taught welding, middle school science and technology, and driver education. He raised show steers for 18 years and had many calves sold in Texas and Oklahoma. He also bred Grand Champion steers at the 2014 Oklahoma Youth Expo.
Mr. Burns currently serves as Vice President of the Clayton City Schools Board of Education and is a member of the Union County Youth Supporters. He and his wife, Katherine, have three children, and their children are involved in most sports. Barnes’ daughters also participate in 4-H and goat shows
For more information about the Clayton Livestock Research Center, visit https://claytonsc.nmsu.edu/.
