New Mexico - The Dairy State
Category: New Mexico Dairies
February 14, 2008
By Bruce Welton
New Mexico Dairy Cows Produce - In Modern Times
I was wondering tonight about the significance of dairies in New Mexico throughout the past, and in the present. As a native, I perceive the state as a broad place with wide open spaces, and though there are plenty of cowboys wandering about here, I didn't know how beneficial this climate- with its dearth of water from time to time- is to dairy farming. So I did some Googling, and cam across an interesting article from BNET, which was originally published in the February 2001 New Mexico Business Journal.
The article, called "It's Diverse, Challenging and Ever-Changing - US Agriculture", actually made some comments about farming in New Mexico, of which the following caught my eye...
During the last 30 years, New Mexico has become a major dairy production state. Only 32,000 dairy animals existed in 1970, but now New Mexico has 217,000 head with milk production per cow being among the highest in the nation. New Mexico can boast of some of the largest dairies in the world as well as some of the biggest dairy processing plants. To feed these herds, New Mexico has responded by increasing hay production No. 1 one crop, partly because the dry climate helps produce some of the nation's finest alfalfa hay.
The state is still dominated by cattle, but increasingly the cattle produce milk instead of beef. Amber waves of wheat remain a favorite sight in eastern New Mexico."
This article answered a couple of questions about dairies and dairy farming in New Mexico. In the past, the state was not-so-much of a dairy farming place. In recent history, it has become more of one, and its cows produce exceptionally well.
Article Source: "It's Diverse, Challenging and Ever-Changing - US Agriculture" by John J. Waelti, Lowell B. Catlett (New Mexico Business Journal, Feb, 2001)