A Focused Approach to "Intensify" Agriculture

The goal for agriculture at Yellow Hills Ranch is to practice a more "intense" version than is common. This is the only way it will be profitable in a dryland area, and that is the only way agriculture can thrive. It is our goal to create a viable economic model that works in arid areas and is in tune with today's market.

Strategies

Creating more intense agricultural production is accomplished by employing strategies that magnify the land's economic potential. These methods include, but are not limited to:

  • STACKING: This means “lining up” multiple use strategies that combine to bring greater production when compared to a single use approach. One example is forest gardening. By definition a forest garden is "layered" with several stories of plants, each finding its niche, each playing a part in the scheme, each nourishing the other parts of the system. Here is a link to our Cooperative Land Page with references and examples to explain this "polyculture" approach.
  • BUILD THE SOIL: The Ranch is mostly alkaline and contains less organic matter than is optimal in most of the area. The soil is the very foundation of a plan to improve the rangeland. You can read more about efforts to build the soil here (future soil link).
  • CONSERVE AND MANAGE WATER: One excellent resource for managing water is provided by "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands", by Brad Lancaster (Volume One and Two). They describe best practices for surface water management to strengthen the underground aquifer and build resources. Another approach toward surface water management is the "keyline" approach. It was developed by an Australian named P.A. Yeomans. (Australia is a place where dryland resource management is advanced due to conditions there.)
  • GRAZING ANIMALS: Grazing animals are critical to the disturbance cycle that leads to an improved rangeland. The stimulation first disturbs the range, then fertilizes it, and then grazers move along before their activity begins to do damage. A range left without disturbance will deteriorate as surely as if it was overgrazed. The essence of managed grazing is managing this activity. Domestic and wild species, including the mustangs and elk, will be incorporated into the plan.
  • RANGELAND SEED PLOTS: Arroyos and other suitable areas can be planted to make them more effective seed plots for reseeding the larger range with beneficial species.

Local Culture Sets the Stage

Many local residents are descendents of the Spanish settlers who populated the area during the original explorations of North America. More information about the area and its history can be found on our local history page.

A History of Cooperative Agriculture

The original settlers were given rights to land in the New World by the Spanish Monarch in the form of land grants. Land grants were not just titles to land, they were grants given in return for developing land agriculturally. We intend to build from this foundation to create a modern cooperative method of agriculture.

Land Grants

Local residents practiced a cooperative system of agriculture with roots in a system of agriculture practiced on the Iberian Peninsula in Spain.  Grants legislated the use of water and land. (See local history page for more on the Land Grants.) The method was a legacy of the years when the Moors dominated Spain. That system of agriculture was similar to today's dryland permaculture as documented below.

Ancient Agricultural Techniques

“Ancient Agriculture: Roots and Application of Sustainable Farming” by Gabriel Alonzo De Herrera was recently recompiled and translated by Juan Estevan Arellano. Gabriel Alonzo De Herrera was a master of the Moorish system. His manual was the agricultural "how-to" of its day in Spain and it's a fascinating look back into history. We obtained permission to provide an excerpt of the introduction. It provides a look at what were the roots of the agricultural system in use in the local area.  Please take a look: Ancient Agriculture: the Introduction.pdf

De Herrera's methods were similar to modern day dryland permaculture. Our plan to is to create a profitable economic model based on a modern day approach to dry land agriculture. (See Permaculture Institute in the sidebar of the Forest Garden page for more information.)

New Mexico Resources

Crop Improvement Association

MSC 3CI, Box 30003
 New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003-0003

505-646-4125
http://www.nmsu.edu/~nmcia

New Mexico Seed Certification

Tracey Carrillo, Director
Box 3AE, Skeen Hall
College & Knox
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003

575-646-4125
575-646-8137
www.cahe.nmsu.edu/nmcia