Chaves County Agriculture

Agriculture in Chaves County

The Chaves County agriculture community varies widely and has many different situations and challenges. The county sprawls from a highly populated urban area to small towns and from irrigated farmland to dairy farms to rangeland. Chaves County still leads the state in hay production and number of dairy cows, with many other crops and livestock produced. Water continues to play a very important role to our agriculture.

According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, total crop production for the county exceeded $51 million. Chaves County led the state with 75,950 milk cows, resulting in over $338 million in cash receipts from milk for the year. Livestock production resulted in over $558 million in cash receipts. Chaves County ranked #1 in corn silage production with 391,000 tons and produced 391,000 tons of top quality alfalfa. In 2015, the local pecan industry produced 7.1 million pounds of pecans.

Chaves County Agricultural Statistics

Ag Related Newsletters

  • Hay Market Reports
    The Hay Market Reports are a compilation of the most up-to-date hay prices available in New Mexico as well as short articles that contain valuable information on management practices that maximize productivity and profitability in haying systems.
    These are published monthly during the hay growing season in newsletter format. Newsletters are published by the NMSU Extension Plant Sciences Department in conjunction with the New Mexico Hay Association.

For More Agriculture Information

  • New Mexico Drought Resources
    The information and resources on this site are intended to help producers with the consideration of different drought related issues and evaluate production and financial implications of various drought management strategies.