The town named for its wells — and one of the earliest alfalfa shipping hubs in the country.
Artesia sits in northern Eddy County, about 35 miles north of Carlsbad on the Pecos River plain. It's a mid-sized town — around 12,000 people — with a strong agricultural backbone layered alongside oil and gas. It's also home to the Artesia Alfalfa Growers Association, which tells you almost everything you need to know about what this town grows.
The name itself tells the story: Artesia, named in 1903 after the artesian aquifer that turned this otherwise dry Pecos Valley flats into irrigation country almost overnight.
Artesia started in 1890 as a stage stop on the old Roswell–Carlsbad route, then a livestock-shipping point on the Pecos Valley Southern Railway. The discovery of artesian wells in the early 1900s — water that rose to the surface under its own pressure — transformed the dry plains into irrigation country almost overnight, and the town took the name Artesia in 1903.
In 1913 alone, Artesia shipped 711 rail cars of alfalfa and alfalfa meal — one of the highest volumes in the country at the time, and the reason the Pecos Valley earned its reputation as alfalfa country that still holds today. The Artesia Alfalfa Growers Association still operates here, and the dairies and feedlots across southeast New Mexico continue to run on Eddy County alfalfa.
From our fields in Saragosa to Artesia is about two hours north on US-285 — same river valley, the northern end of it. Artesia buyers know alfalfa, which is exactly why we like selling to them.
Whether you're running a dairy, feeding horses, managing a cattle operation, or putting up a load for resale, we can deliver premium custom alfalfa from our Saragosa fields. Multiple cuttings, mid-sized square bales, forage testing on request.
Give Ray a call or drop a note. We'll tell you what's on hand, what's coming, and when we can set up a run up to Artesia.