New Mexico's poultry compliance program runs through the Livestock Sanitary Board, and the board's name tells you what the animal health layer is built around: disease control at the state border. The Department of Agriculture's Livestock Sanitary Board handles imports, exhibitions, hatcheries, breeding flocks, reportable disease, and carcass disposal under NMSA 1978, §§ 77-11-1 to 77-11-20 and 21.19 NMAC, the Food Safety program handles eggs and processing, and the New Mexico Environment Department's Surface Water Quality Bureau handles CAFO coverage. Poultry Log's New Mexico catalog records each requirement with its agency, authority, trigger, retention period, and official source link.
Animal Health Layer: Livestock Sanitary Board
- Imports - poultry, hatching eggs, or other fowl entering New Mexico must meet Livestock Sanitary Board import requirements under NMSA 1978, §§ 77-11-1 to 77-11-20 and 21.19 NMAC, including a valid certificate of veterinary inspection or entry permit and any NPIP or Pullorum-Typhoid evidence required for the class of bird.
- Exhibitions - poultry exhibited at a New Mexico show must originate from a Pullorum-Typhoid-clean or NPIP-participating flock or have a negative test within 90 days of the event, enforced at check-in, with NPIP program status able to substitute for the separate test while the documentation requirement remains.
- Hatcheries and breeding flocks - a New Mexico hatchery, chick dealer, or seller of hatching eggs must participate in the state poultry health program, keeping source, lot, and testing records. Chicks, poults, or hatching eggs for sale must come from clean or NPIP-participating breeding flocks, tested at least annually, with reactors removed.
- Reportable disease and disposal - a suspected or confirmed reportable poultry disease event, including avian influenza, must be reported immediately to the Livestock Sanitary Board. Carcasses must be disposed of promptly by an approved method (burial, composting, incineration, rendering, or other approved disposal) under NMSA 1978, §§ 77-11-1 to 77-11-20 and board disposal requirements, with dated records of each event.
Egg and Processing Layer: NMDA Food Safety
Under New Mexico's egg rules administered by NMDA Food Safety, a person who grades, candles, packages, or sells eggs as a dealer must hold a New Mexico egg dealer license and meet grading, candling, refrigeration, and labeling requirements. A producer selling only eggs from their own hens, without purchasing eggs from others, may operate under the producer exemption, but eggs must still be clean, wholesome, and honestly represented, and graded eggs must be labeled with grade, size, packer name and address, and pack date, and refrigerated. For poultry processing, a producer must use a licensed or USDA-inspected establishment unless every condition of New Mexico's on-farm or custom exemption is met, including processing only its own birds with the required labeling and annual bird limits, keeping slaughter and sales records.
Environmental Layer: NMED Surface Water Quality Bureau
A poultry operation that is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation must obtain NPDES or state CAFO permit coverage from the New Mexico Environment Department's Surface Water Quality Bureau before discharging or operating its waste management system, under 40 CFR Part 122, implementing a nutrient management plan and keeping production-area and land-application records. The catalog records the below-threshold position: an operation under the large CAFO threshold (fewer than 125,000 broilers or pullets, or 82,000 laying hens without a wet handling system, or 55,000 turkeys in grow-out) that does not discharge is generally not required to hold a CAFO permit, though designation can change that. Records are kept for the period the permit requires, commonly five years, and covered CAFOs submit the annual report under 40 CFR 122.42(e)(4).
Where Poultry Log Fits
Poultry Log's New Mexico catalog carries these requirements with official source links and form templates, in the same workspace as the daily records that feed them. The egg layer connects to the wholesale egg dealer records guide, the NPIP layer to the NPIP participation records guide, and the NMED layer to the CAFO permit guide. Confirm current requirements with the Livestock Sanitary Board and NMED; completing a checklist does not certify legal compliance. Start free at poultrylog.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the New Mexico Livestock Sanitary Board?
It is the animal health division of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, handling poultry imports, exhibitions, hatcheries, breeding flocks, reportable disease, and carcass disposal under NMSA 1978, §§ 77-11-1 to 77-11-20 and 21.19 NMAC. The board's name reflects its disease-control focus at the state border: import requirements include a valid CVI or entry permit plus the NPIP or Pullorum-Typhoid evidence required for the class of bird.
Do New Mexico egg producers need a dealer license?
A person who grades, candles, packages, or sells eggs as a dealer must hold a New Mexico egg dealer license. A producer selling only eggs from their own hens, without purchasing eggs from others, may use the producer exemption, but graded eggs must still be labeled with grade, size, packer name and address, and pack date, and refrigerated.
Who runs CAFO permits in New Mexico?
The New Mexico Environment Department's Surface Water Quality Bureau, under 40 CFR Part 122. A poultry CAFO obtains NPDES or state coverage before discharging or operating its waste management system, implementing a nutrient management plan and keeping production-area and land-application records, with the annual report under 40 CFR 122.42(e)(4).