Farm Scene for the Salisbury Post
Darrell Blackwelder
August 28, 2001
Traveling east of Albuquerque, our bus arrived in a fertile valley that had no natural flow of water. The crops were furrow irrigated by pumping water from a deep underground aquifer. The expected life of the aquifer for this area was 40 years due to excessive use of water. Growers had water rights of 2.5 acre feet of water for irrigation during the year.
Obviously, water was the determining factor in crop growth. Water quality was also a problem. Fertile farming areas lay empty in many areas because of the extreme high salt content.
To my surprise, growers in the eastern region of New Mexico produce abundant crops of sweet corn (though not Silver Queen), pinto beans, onions, pumpkins, pecans and even turf grass sod. With the exception of ample water, the growing conditions for most crops were perfect.. Low humidity, warm sunny days and cool nights produced quality bumper crops that had the advantage of growing in an environment nearly void of insects and diseases.
The major horticultural crop of the valley we visited was pinto beans. Beans are produced much like our bush snap beans, but harvested quite differently. The vines are wind rowed like hay, then combined in a way similar to soybean harvests here. New crop beans are super cleaned to fill 25 and 50 pound burlap bags which sell very quickly. Growers in this valley direct sold everything on the farm. Bean patrons would drive 100 miles for new crop beans often arriving after 9:00 p.m. People there like pinto beans. We had pinto bean fudge as we boarded the bus back to the hotel.
New Mexicans also like sweet corn. We had sweet corn roasted in the shuck at every meal. Growers use super sweet yellow hybrids that tastes good- even raw!
The crops were produced on naturally fertile soils. Growers used little if any fertilizer on the farms I visited. The sod producer seemed a bit amused at my inquiry about topsoil loss due to constant sod removal. I had no idea that the topsoil in this area was at least 4 to 8 feet deep. Topsoil loss was the least of his worries.
Crops were laid out in rectangular-shaped units ranging in 20 to 100 acre blocks--no need for terraces or grass waterways. The land was perfectly level reminding me of an overly large, dirt, airport tarmac.
Even though the farms I visited were almost as foreign as the tomato fields I visited in Egypt, growers had many of the same problems as Rowan County producers. Urbanization was a constant problem. Retired citizens have discovered the warm, dry climate is easy on the joints and muscles. Most of the areas with good soil make perfect retirement settlements.