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 2022 Census of Agriculture, total crop production for the county exceeded $82 million. Chaves County sits 2nd in the state with 51,000 milk cows, resulting in over $296 million in cash receipts from milk for the year. Livestock production resulted in over $446 million in cash receipts. Chaves County ranked #1 in corn silage production with 544,236 tons and produced 160,000 tons of top quality alfalfa. Chaves County sits sencond in pecan production for NM with 8.8 million pounds of pecans.

Chaves County Agricultural Statistics

• 2024 New Mexico Agricultural Statistics
• 2025 Chaves County At a Glance

Upcoming Events

SE Ranchers Workshop

Join us for the SE Ranchers Workshop each spring. The Southeast Ranchers Workshop is an educational program organized by NMSU Cooperative Extension Service to provide ranchers and livestock producers in SE NM with current research, practical management strategies, and networking opportunities. The workshop is a collaborative effort involving Extension Agents from Chaves, Eddy, Lea, Roosevelt and Curry counties along with industry partners and agricultural organizations. 

SE Rancher's Workshop Impact Statement

Stay tuned for this year's flyer

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 State University Extension Publications

• New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Centers - Locations, Information and Research Publications

• New Mexico Department of Agriculture

• New Mexico Department of Agriculture - Pesticide Division

• New Mexico Department of Agriculture Organic Program

• United States Department of Agriculture - National Agricultural Statistics Service

• United States Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture - New Mexico - State and County Reports

• New Mexico Agricultural Statistics Annual Bulletins

• United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Database

• New Mexico Hay Association

• New Mexico State Forestry Conservation Seedling Program

• 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.