![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/x.gif) |
![ripening heads of wheat](images/p8b.jpg) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/x.gif) |
Growing organic, unusually
tasty wheat raised in the mountains of northern New Mexico has
been a profitable route to a better quality of life for a new
farmers cooperative. Photo courtesy of USDA |
![](file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Thor/My%20Documents/images/x.gif) |
In the arid mountains north of Taos, N.M., a group of residents
struggling to stay on the land rather than move to Albuquerque for
retail jobs heeded the advice of agricultural educators and began
growing high-quality wheat. Its been years since the group
decided to try farming, and their modest success is a testament
to their hard work and never-say-die attitude.
Today, the Sangre de Cristo Cooperative sells about 400,000 pounds
of flour to bakeries, restaurants and groceries. Their product,
raised organically, has been hailed as unusually tasty and thus
brings a high price in the upscale markets of Taos and Sante Fe.
Its quality stuff a better product than what
you can get elsewhere, said Craig Mapel, a marketing specialist
with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, one of the founders
of the co-op project.The flour performs wonderfully.
It was Mapel, in fact, who went with county extension agent Rey
Torres to visit northern New Mexico landowners in 1994 to propose
a new crop for what had become one of the poorest communities in
the country. A generation earlier, the people of the area farmed,
but mining and tourism jobs lured many to the big cities. In their
wake: impoverished communities with few economic prospects. Those
who remained in farming contended with cycles of drought, little
access to equipment and low commodity prices in the marketplace.
Most had 10 acres or fewer.
Mapels part of the project, funded by a SARE grant, focused
on improving the incomes of families most of them Latino
or Native American through good farming practices and savvy
marketing.
They said they had land and water and they didnt want
a minimum wage job in Albuquerque, Mapel recalled. They
asked if we could help them stay on their land.
With guidance from the state Department of Agriculture, New Mexico
Extension specialists and community development leaders, a group
began small-scale farming in an area whose altitude seems ideally
suited to producing premium wheat. About half a dozen Extension-led
workshops held in the region educated the group of 30 farmers about
the ins and outs of raising wheat.
Basically, we started from zero, Mapel said. Most
of them didnt have a tractor.
![local certified organic bread label](images/p8a.jpg)
Mapel helped them apply for grants, which enabled the co-op to
form and buy equipment. They identified a mill in Texas to convert
their raw product to flour and package it in five-, 25- and 50-pound
bags. In 1995, the new growers harvested their wheat, milled it
collectively and co-marketed their product under their new label,
Nativo flour. When they found a dedicated customer
the owner of a Santa Fe bakery the co-op took off.
Today, dozens of groceries and markets, a pizza chain and several
coffee shops buy Nativo flour. The group hopes to purchase
its own mill, using grant assistance, in the area. Not only would
it save the long trip to Texas for processing, but building a mill
also would bring job opportunities that could spread more income
throughout the local economy.
Their main limitation has been something beyond their control:
water.
Nobody has ever seen it this dry, except maybe in 1950,
said Lonnie Roybal, a Costilla wheat and alfalfa grower and tireless
marketer of flour. This year, he is peddling flour from last years
harvest, and hopes it snows enough next winter to recharge the water
supply for next springs planting.
Roybal, who received his own SARE grant to explore irrigation methods,
continues to appreciate the assistance that launched the project,
attributing much of the credit to Mapel. Craig has been there
for us since the beginning, he said. Today, people really
like the flour. We have a good product.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/x.gif) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/x.gif) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/bullet_trans.gif) |
Audience
Hispanic or Native American descendants in northern New Mexico |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/bullet_trans.gif) |
Educating Team
New Mexico Department of Agriculture
NMSU Extension Service |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/bullet_trans.gif) |
Challenges Addressed
Little access to capital or equipment
Small land holdings
Limited rainfall |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/bullet_trans.gif) |
Connection Strategies
Prospect of grant funding
Promise of profits |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/bullet_trans.gif) |
Teaching Methods
Demonstrations
Intensive, on-farm production workshops |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090115203953im_/http://www.sare.org/images/x.gif) |
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