FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NMDA Contact:
Jenny Green, Communications Specialist
jgreen@nmda.nmsu.edu
Office: 575-646-3060
Cell: 575-202-4249

February 28, 2025

National Weights and Measures Week is March 1-7

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s (NMDA) Standards & Consumer Services (SCS) Division and the State Metrology Lab at NMDA announce Weights and Measures Week, held every year from March 1-7 to commemorate President John Adams’ signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799.

NMDA’s SCS Division ensures the accuracy of any device installed, serviced, repaired or reconditioned and placed into service. This is official guidance to ensure a registrant’s authority and responsibilities are being met within the standards outlined in the New Mexico Administrative Codes.

A livestock scale inside a cattle pen. The scale has a metal frame with wheels, positioned near a black flatbed truck. The cattle pen is made of metal fencing, with sunlight casting shadows on the ground. — The New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s (NMDA) Standards & Consumer Services Division and the State Metrology Lab at NMDA announce Weights and Measures Week, held every year from March 1-7 to commemorate President John Adams’ signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799. (Photo courtesy New Mexico Department of Agriculture)

SCS collaborates with the State Metrology Lab, which is housed in NMDA’s Laboratory Division in Las Cruces. It is the lab’s responsibility to ensure weights used for commerce are accurate.

“The weights and measures operations play an important role in NMDA’s mission to provide consumer protection to the best of our ability, in addition to serving farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses,” said Jeff Witte, New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture. “Whether you’re a consumer or a business owner, you should have peace of mind knowing that our team is doing its best to ensure products are weighed and measured in the most accurate manner possible.”

A commercial scale with several cylindrical metal calibration weights on its stainless steel surface. The scale has a yellow NMDA (New Mexico Department of Agriculture) inspection sticker indicating it has been tested and approved. In the background, blue metal shelves hold large water bottles and other items. — The New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s (NMDA) Standards & Consumer Services Division and the State Metrology Lab at NMDA announce Weights and Measures Week, held every year from March 1-7 to commemorate President John Adams’ signing of the first U.S. weights and measures law on March 2, 1799. (Photo courtesy New Mexico Department of Agriculture)

The National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) is a professional nonprofit association of state and local weights and measures officials, federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers and consumers that began developing the weights and measure standards for commerce in 1905. Learn more about NCWM at www.ncwm.net.

Learn more about NMDA weights and measures operations at https://nmdeptag.nmsu.edu/standards-and-consumer-services/scs-main.html and https://nmdeptag.nmsu.edu/labs/metrology.html.

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National Weights and Measures Week is March 1-7