Wild West Tour lll: Day 37

Dalhart TX to Clayton NM

6-26-14

Day 37

Well we had another short mileage day and with the stiff wind in our face that was a good thing. Our choice was 67 miles to Clayton or 155 miles to Raton NM. We went for the 67 miler. Riding 155 in the wind would make us all loony.

Thirty-five miles into our day we crossed into New Mexico. This is one of the last two remaining states to complete our “every state” quest. Nevada is the last state we need but it is still 1000 miles away.

The landscape is still relatively flat and baron except where it is irrigated. You can clearly see which land is receiving water and which is not. One plot is green and the other is dust.

The farmers here are struggling with a low water table that is only going to get worse in the future. Some of the wells have already dried up and that makes the land nearly useless. If the desert cannot be irrigated nothing will grow. Drilling a deeper well is unbelievably expensive due to the capacity they need. The farmer we talked to said drilling a deeper well that can produce the needed 800 gallons per minute can cost up to $100,000!

These wells use V-8 truck engines to turn the pump and run 24 hours a day 7 days a week during the growing season. The farmers are also regulated on how many wells they can have in any given area. This is also to protect the water supply.

To help the farmers that are in a low water table area the government pays them not to plant crops. On these fields they grow a local grass plant that can survive drought conditions. They do not get paid much not to plant, but not planting some areas may save other areas from drying up.

Farming is big business and big business needs big money. The farmer in the video has 2000 acres of farmland. (640 acres is a square mile) Let’s do the math on this “small” plot of land. I did say small because some farms here are much much larger.

Seed is about $250 per acre $250 x 2000 = $500,000

Bug spraying by crop duster is about $35 per acre X 2000 = $70,000 (could multiple sprayings)

Crop insurance $850 per acre x 2000=$1,700,000

These are only a few of the items needed to plant crops. The field needs to be tilled and harvested also. These are some super scary big numbers! These guys juggle millions of dollars each year.

We could have talked to this guy for hours picking his brain. He was nice enough to offer us lunch at his house but we were already running late so we had to decline his friendly offer. Nothing better that getting a free meal on this journey. We remember everyone who has done this for us.

Along our route today we passed Larsen Farms. It was obviously a huge operation with many square miles of fields. We found out Larsen Farms is one of the world’s largest potato producers. New Mexico potatoes? I had never even heard of New Mexico potatoes before just Maine and Idaho. This farm company grows potatoes in a few other states also.

Very soon the serious climbing will start as we enter the Rockies. So far we have climbed in excess of 140,000 feet since we left Connecticut! Ouch!