New Mexico agriculture production report 2014

On March 6 the United States Department of Agriculture-National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) released their preliminary report—New Mexico Agriculture Overview for 2014—indicating that in spite of an ongoing drought, farming and ranching remains a strong and driving economic force for the state.

Livestock inventories (as of Jan. 1, 2015) indicated modest growth in most sectors, especially in production of milk and milk products. New Mexico remains the 9th leading state for dairy production in the nation featuring about 323,000 milk cows.

Overall, New Mexico showed positive results for milk production in 2014 with just over 8.1 million pounds of fresh milk. Milk production per head of dairy cattle also ranked high with 25,093 pounds of milk per cow compared to the previous year's (2013) 24,944 pounds of milk per cow. Total value of milk production in New Mexico climbed to an estimated $1,515,231,000.00, slightly more than in 2013.

Beef cow numbers for 2014, including calves, were up slightly as well, indicating slow herd growth. As of Jan. 1, 2015, there were 1,340,000 non-dairy cattle across the state. At the beginning the year, the state had an estimated 90,000 sheep including lambs and 11,000 goats but only 1,300 domestic hogs in New Mexico in 2014.

Supporting the state's progressive dairy and beef herds was a robust production of hay forage, primarily high-value alfalfa grown in the southeastern corner of the state. Thanks to beneficial rains and an extended growing season, 2014 was another good year for alfalfa producers. Those same rains provided healthy grass and multiple cuttings last year, keeping the high demand alfalfa of New Mexico popular among local and out-of-state buyers.

While New Mexico's love affair with their famous green and red chile remains as strong as ever and demand runs high for authentic New Mexico chile within the state, chile acres harvested in 2014 were even less than the reduced number of acres harvested in 2013.

In 2014, USDA-NASS reports 8,100 acres were planted and only 7,700 harvested. That represents a substantial drop from the 8,600 acres harvested in 2013 and 9,600 acres harvested in 2012. Final production numbers for 2014 total 58,700 tons compared to 65,000 tons the previous year. The value of New Mexico chile was estimated at $38.7 million, compared to $49.5 million the year before.

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