Pecos Valley alfalfa country — where the first Pecos River diversion ditches made farming possible, and still do.
Carlsbad is the Eddy County seat, sitting on the Pecos River in southeast New Mexico. Most of the world knows it for Carlsbad Caverns National Park — but above ground, it's one of the most serious ag towns in the region. Population ~32,000, with dairies, ranches, and alfalfa fields stretching out in every direction.
The town's name was changed from Eddy to Carlsbad in 1899, after the famous European spa town of Karlsbad. Water put Carlsbad on the map, and water still keeps the alfalfa growing.
The Eddy brothers built the first diversion ditch on the Pecos River here in the 1880s, and alfalfa was one of the original irrigated crops — grown to feed horses, sheep, and cattle. Cotton followed, then pecans, but alfalfa has always been the heart of Eddy County agriculture.
The Bureau of Reclamation reinforced the works as the Carlsbad Project in 1906 — one of the earliest federal irrigation projects in the country. By the early 1900s the area was known as "one of the finest fruit and alfalfa sections in the world." Alfalfa is today still New Mexico's number-one cash crop, with 135,000 acres in production statewide and much of it grown right here in the Pecos Valley.
From our fields in Saragosa to Carlsbad is about an hour and a half north on US-285 — the same river valley, just across the state line. Ray makes this run regularly. Eddy County buyers know alfalfa better than most, which is exactly why we're glad to deliver to them.
Whether you're running a dairy, keeping horses, managing a cow-calf outfit, or just feeding a few head on a smaller place, we can set you up with premium custom alfalfa from our Saragosa fields. Multiple cuttings, mid-sized square bales, forage testing on request.
Give Ray a call or send a note. We'll tell you what's on hand, what's coming, and when we can set up a delivery up to Carlsbad.