BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhuanet) -- New Mexico of the United States has got an official state cowboy song, media reports said Thursday.

    New Mexico's  Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation Wednesday declaring New Mexico the first state to adopt an official cowboy song: "Under the New Mexico Skies" by Syd Masters, a 42-year-old musician from Edgewood.  

    "The song tells about New Mexico, like the beautiful landscape, wildlife, the flowers and the beautiful mountains of New Mexico — the things that we are proud of.

    "And cowboys and ranchers are also the things we are proud of," said state Rep. Gloria Vaughn, a Republican from Alamogordo who proposed the idea of an homage to cowhands. "Because we have so many ranchers and cattle people, this is important for New Mexico."

    The livestock industry is the state's most important agricultural commodity, with annual sales of dairy and beef cattle totaling almost 2 billion U.S dollars.

    (Agencies)