State funding aimed at helping farmers and ranchers implement water conservation techniques is helping address a variety of drought-related problems, administrators, scientists and farmers told New Mexico lawmakers on Monday. They asked legislators to double the program’s funding next year as the state continues to suffer from record low snowpack and drought conditions. A presentation in front of the Water and Natural Resources Committee during its meeting in Taos noted that 80% of New Mexico’s water benefits agriculture, and this year’s record low snowpack and ongoing drought conditions have negatively impacted farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to produce crops and raise livestock.