Good News in Cow Country

New Mexico Business Journal, May, 2001

After years of hanging on grimly, New Mexico's cattle ranchers are finally seeing a positive change in their fortunes, thanks to a combination of a stronger market and winter precipitation. Cattlemen are rebuilding their herds after cutting back in the drought years and this rebuilding appears to be bringing higher prices for cows. For example, steers that were selling for 95.5 cents a pound last year were bringing $1.05 to $1.15 a pound last month at the Deming Livestock Auction. And the price of feeder calves at the Roswell Livestock Auction has increased to about 80 cents a pound compared with 70 cents a year ago.

The upward movement is prices isn't a reaction to the European foot-and-mouth disease scare that triggered a Department of Agriculture import ban on European meat, says Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Assn. Cowan was quoted in the Las Cruces Sun-News as saying that if the ban changes anything, "it'll take a while before it trickles down to us. Our market is holding strong on its own."

00  90  Area             2000       1990   Number   Pct.
NA  NA  NEW MEXICO  1,819,046  1,515,069  303,977   20.1
 1   1  Bernalillo    556,678    480,577   76,101   15.8
31  31  Catron          3,543      2,563      980   38.2
 9   7  Chaves         61,382     57,849    3,533    6.1
17  16  Cibola         25,595     23,794    1,801    7.6
24  22  Colfax         14,189     12,925    1,264    9.8
12  12  Curry          45,044     42,207    2,837    6.7
32  32  De Baca         2,240      2,252      -12   -0.5
 2   2  Dona Ana      174,682    135,510   39,172   28.9
11  10  Eddy           51,658     48,605    3,053    6.3
14  14  Grant          31,002     27,676    3,326   12.0
29  29  Guadalupe       4,680      4,156      524   12.6
33  33  Harding           810        987     -177  -17.9
27  27  Hidalgo         5,932      5,958      -26   -0.4
10   8  Lea            55,511     55,765     -254   -0.5
19  23  Lincoin        19,411     12,219    7,192   58.9
20  18  Los Alamos     18,343     18,115      228    1.3
18  19  Luna           25,016     18,110    6,906   38.1
 6   6  McKinley       74,798     60,686   14,112   23.3
28  28  Mora            5,180      4,264      916   21.5
 8   9  Otero          62,298     51,928   10,370   20.0
26  24  Quay           10,155     10,823     -668   -6.2
13  13  Rio Arriba     41,190     34,365    6,825   19.9
22  20  Roosevelt      18,018     16,702    1,316    7.9
 5   5  Sandoval       89,908     63,319   26,589   42.0
 4   4  San Juan      113,801     91,605   22,196   24.2
15  15  San Miguel     30,126     25,743    4,383   17.0
 3   3  Santa Fe      129,292     98,928   30,364   30.7
25  26  Sierra         13,270      9,912    3,358   33.9
21  21  Socorro        18,078     14,764    3,314   22.4
16  17  Taos           29,979     23,118    6,861   29.7
23  25  Torrance       16,911     10,285    6,626   64.4
30  30  Union           4,174      4,124       50    1.2
 7  11  Valencia       66,152     45,235   20,917   46.2
NA Not applicable.