As someone who generally supports good causes, and who ordered a specialty license plate sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Board to help reduce pet overpopulation, I was interested to read recently that New Mexico is helping schools offset the cost of field trips to a museum with a new license plate.

The specialty plate (pictured above) was authorized by the state Legislature and pays tribute to New Mexico’s farming and ranching heritage. It is available through the state’s Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) for all residents.

The annual fee for the plate is $35 in addition to regular car registration, plus $2 for administration fees. The first $12 of the $37 fee is retained (by statute) by the New Mexico MVD to cover the costs of printing the plate and administering the program.

The remaining $25 is turned over to the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s education department to support its programming. The museum plans to use the money to enhance its Big Yellow School Bus Fund, a program developed in 2006 to offer “bus scholarships” to help fund field trips to the museum. A school is typically charged $100 to $300 for each bus it needs when taking a field trip.

Anyone who’s interested in acquiring the plate can get one now, even if their vehicle registration is not yet due. You can pick up a plate at one of the MVD offices in Las Cruces. People who live outside of Las Cruces can fill out an application and pay the $37 to order the plate.

The applications are available at any MVD office in the state, as well as through the museum’s website at www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org. For more information, you can contact a New Mexico MVD office, or the museum at (575) 522-4100.

If you plan to order the New Mexico farm and ranch heritage license plate, or if you have a specialty plate that supports a cause in the state that you live in, post a comment below — I’d be interested to read about it.

Until next time,

Kelly Roher
Senior Editor