Deming farmer recognized for solving soil problem

Susan Morée talks to Cole Viramontes, a third-generation farmer of Viramontes Farms near Deming, about a pest on his farm he eliminated with an organic solution. Viramontes received the 2025 Leopold Conservation Award. The Sand County Foundation is accepting applications for the 2026 award. Here is a transcript of their conversation. 
 
Susan Morée: 
What was happening with that disease? 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
So, the disease is called a verticillium wilt and it's a pathogenic disease and it's naturally in the soil. So, what it does is, it will enter in through a damaged root tip of a plant and it starts to grow into the vascular system of the plant and, essentially, it chokes out the plant for nutrients. 
 
Susan Morée: 
And how was this impacting your family? 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
At the time, we were basically budgeting in about 20% more acres than we needed to fulfill our annual contract, just because there was about 20% present in the field at any given time. So, we were just trying to grow more crops to make up for the loss that we were expecting. 
 
Susan Morée: 
That must have been pretty hard for your farm. 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
Yeah, I mean, it's hard for any farmer to see something that they put four months of their life into start to just fall apart at the very end, and there's nothing you can do about it. So fortunately, this particular pest is something that's got to be treated on the very front end of the season, and that's where we started to see results. We started just playing with beneficial bacteria, different microbiologies that were beneficial and present in the soil. And it took a lot of trial and error to find the right mix of bacteria and fungi to combat this. And we finally, about six, oh, seven years ago, found one. It's a compost tea that we brew on the farm. So, it's all natural and, essentially, what we're doing is taking a microbial colony that's present in the compost and adding molasses to multiply the colonies overnight in a tank with air, and then we pump it out into the soil. It's 100% organic. 
 
Susan Morée: 
For farmers out there or ranchers who are maybe thinking about dealing with some kind of pest or other issue, are there any tips that you might recommend for conservation? 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
Every crop in every area and every farm is unique. You know, irrigation systems are different, soil types are different, crops are different. So, my tip is that even though you might not see results right away, if you keep trying, they eventually will start to appear. You know, the added benefit that really pushed us over the top was we started to see a reduction in the conventional inputs that we're having to use, and we weren't having other issues, different bugs and stuff weren't showing up like they used to, so we weren't having to use conventional pesticides and we were able to reduce our chemical footprint on the farm substantially. So yeah, you know, it's one of those things. It's hard to say. There’s no  one-size-fits-all in farming in general and this is no different, but I think it's worth it. 
 
Susan Morée: 
When you were in the middle of dealing with that disease and were trying to just figure out what to do, was that severe enough of a problem that you were starting to think you might not be able to continue farming? 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
No, it wasn't to that point, that extent yet, but it was definitely, you know, it was a costly disease just because of having to plant 20% more every year, that's 20% more inputs, that's 20% more expense that we were incurring. So, our margin was getting squeezed pretty hard. 
 
Susan Morée: 
Thank you so much, Cole. I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me. 
 
Cole Viramontes: 
Yes, ma'am. You got it.