Bustos, Don

English

Research Papers in Economics

Agricultural Outlook Forum 2005                                                      Presented Friday, February 25, 2005 
 
 
SANTA CRUZ FARM:  DIRECT AND NICHE MARKETING IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO 
 
Don Bustos 
Farmer, Santa Cruz Farm; Program Coordinator, New Mexico American Friends Service Committee 
 
 
Introduction 
 
  Santa Cruz Farm is a family owned and operated certified organic farm, located in the Española 
Valley in northern New Mexico.  We are certified organic by the New Mexico Organic Commission, a 
state agency.  The farm has been in the family since the late 1600s, and we have been growing 
organically certified for about ten years.  Santa Cruz Farm grows traditional and regional crops as well 
as specialty crops.  We farm according to the moon cycles and the sun’s energy, and with a little help 
from modern technology, we can extend the growing season in order to bring an ever widening variety 
of fresh, locally grown food to the community all year long.  Santa Cruz Farm has been running a 
successful Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA), both summer and winter, for the past 
nine years.  We combine traditional methods with more modern techniques such as hoop houses and 
greenhouses which allow us to grow certain foods twelve months a year.  Santa Cruz Farm consists of 
three and a half acres of land with ten thousand square feet of greenhouse and cold frames.  We are now 
hoping to find funding sources to help develop a solar heating process, which may allow us to extend the 
growing season of more heat sensitive crops.  Santa Cruz Farm follows a three-pronged marketing plan 
consisting of direct sales through farmers markets, steady CSA, and wholesale accounts.  The majority 
of our income comes from the farmers markets.  Wholesale has generally been the least profitable 
avenue, but through the Farm to Table program, we have recently begun regularly supplying the Santa 
Fe school district with fresh, healthy salad greens.  By means of this carefully balanced marketing plan, 
Santa Cruz Farm is able to function dependably while filling the needs of a variety of members of the 
community through methods best suited to each one.  In this way, we maintain our traditional lifestyle as 
we continue to play a valuable role in our community. 
 
History of the Land and Water 
 
  Santa Cruz Farm was named after our church and after the Santa Cruz del la Cañada land grant.  
The land grants in New Mexico were given by the king of Spain in the 1500s and 1600s to encourage 
people to come to the new world and help settle and claim land for Spain.  Families that moved to New 
Mexico and met the qualifications were often given large pieces of land, in some cases to individuals but 
typically to communities.  The Santa Cruz Land Grant was given to 15 families and is a communal 
grant.  The original land grant consisted of 44 thousand acres that has been lost for several reasons.  We 
have a group of people in New Mexico working on this issue, and we have made great progress on both 
state and federal levels to begin returning lands back to the community.  By becoming a sub-division of 
the state government, much like a department in state government, the land grants will be able to ask the 
state of New Mexico for funding to build affordable housing, clean up dump sites, and purchase lands 
that were part of the original grant.  The US General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report in 2004 
that addresses the land grants and some of the remedies that might occur.  Just recently, in February 
2005, at a public assembly, Governor Bill Richardson announced that he would help us with funding and 
start a program at Highlands University on land grants.     The source for water used to farm the land involves a traditional system known as acequias, 
which is the main method of water distribution in Northern New Mexico.  Acequias are four hundred 
year old systems which represent the first form of democracy in the United States.  The New Mexico 
Acequia Association has taken the lead to protect our water rights and ensure that our water stays tied to 
our land.  The acequias were brought by the Spaniards and integrated with existing systems in use by the 
Native Americans.  The system had been developed by the Moors and introduced to Spain during a war 
between the two cultures.  In New Mexico, it is based on the premise that everyone is equal and should 
get a fair share of water to grow crops, water livestock, and for drinking.  Acequias are usually governed 
by a commission elected every two years, which sets the times when the acequias are cleaned and water 
is released from the rivers, as well as help resolve any conflicts that might arise between members.  The 
Majordomo is responsible for acequias law enforcement, coordinating the cleaning, and daily oversight 
of acequias affairs.  Majordomos must also make sure everyone gets their share of water, a challenge 
during times of drought.  This system has served us well over the generations, and at Santa Cruz Farm, 
we have integrated modern technology into the traditional distribution system to help conserve our 
precious water.   
 
Methods, Techniques and Production 
 
  Santa Cruz Farm uses a drip system to help conserve water when irrigating our crops.  The drip 
system was first introduced to the farm nine years ago, when the establishment of our CSA program 
allowed us some extra money to invest in farm improvements.  Some of the first investments made with 
the CSA funds were two triton sand filters, a small five horsepower pump, drip tape, and two-inch 
distribution pipe; enough for one acre of crops.  Our research found RainFlow products to be the most 
affordable and dependable source for our needs, and we still use them to this day. 
  Santa Cruz Farm grows seventy six different varieties of crops twelve months a year using 
nothing but solar energy.  For fall and winter production, we are using a technique that I learned from 
Elliot Colman and his book Four Season Harvest.  We have also received a huge amount of advice and 
help from the Alcalde Science Center of New Mexico State University, run by Edmund Gomez and 
assisted by Agriculture Specialist Del Jeminez.  This method uses layers of material to create climate 
zone changes.  We start with a cold frame structure and cover it with two-year, 5-millimeter, UV-
protected greenhouse plastic.  Inside the cold frame we use five-foot sections of thick-gauge wire bent 
into a half circle with ends pushed roughly 6 inches into the soil.  We then cover this with a woven 
polyester cloth that lets light and water in, but protects the crops from freezing temperatures.  It is much 
like an igloo effect.  As one layer freezes, it traps warmer air between the layers.  When the second layer 
freezes, it traps the heat released by the soil.  We have also used plastic mulches to warm the soil and 
keep the root zone from freezing.  We are now hoping to find funding sources to help develop a solar 
heating process, which may allow us to grow more heat sensitive crops longer into the winter and earlier 
in the spring.  By heating water and moving it underground beneath the beds, we hope to heat the soil 
and trap the warmer air.  Currently, our winter production allows growing cold tolerant crops such as 
spinach, swiss chard, lettuce mix, arugula, and kale. 
  In the spring, we can start about 30 days earlier than we could otherwise by using plastic 
mulches to heat the soil along with the wire hoops and remay cover.  We start with our cold crops and 
move our winter production outside.  This frees up our cold frames for the early production of warm 
weather crops like basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers, allowing us to get to the farmers’ markets early with 
locally grown food.  By mid April, we have all our major crops outside covered with remay, and have 
directly seeded our field crops like chile, squash, cucumbers, and beans.  We can then start to harvest 
our spring crop of asparagus and strawberries.  Thanks to Ron Walser, the fruit specialist with the 
Alcalde Science Center, we started with strawberries three years ago, have expanded to raspberries in 
2004, and are now looking forward to planting blackberries.     Then we shift into our summer mode.  We harvest squash and cucumbers by mid June and are 
working on all our summer crops, like green chile, by July.  By early fall, the majority of production is 
moved back inside the greenhouses and cold frames, and the cycle begins again. 
 
Marketing 
 
  In the early nineties, Santa Cruz Farm developed a business plan through a program Edmund 
Gomez put together.  A business consultant was hired to help farmers approach their farm as a small 
business.  I was fortunate enough to participate in the classes.  Out of the program, I developed a three 
prong marketing plan much like a milk stool; if one leg is a little weak, you can still balance on the other 
two.  
  The first prong of the marketing plan is the local farmers’ markets.  We go to the Española 
market in our home town on Mondays; on Thursdays, we go to the Los Alamos market; and on 
Tuesdays and Saturdays we go to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market.  At these markets, we make 70 percent 
of our income from direct sales to customers. Green chile is, by far, our best summer crop.  Northern 
New Mexico has the perfect climate for growing chiles, and we attract tourists from all over the country 
and the world.  We grow about one acre and sell it at the markets, where we roast the chile over an open 
flame.  The sight and smell of roasting chiles brings the customers in droves.  Another very popular item 
is our strawberries, which are the only strawberries currently being grown in the region.  Due to their 
rare status, these delicious organic berries are snapped up fast and bring a high price at the farmers 
markets. 
  The second area of sales is our Community Supported Agriculture program.  Our CSA started 
nine years ago, when a group of women from the Los Alamos Unitarian Church came on a farm visit in 
the middle of winter, based on a recommendation by county extension agent Tony Valdez.  They were 
impressed when they saw the cold frames full of greens and ready for sale.  I had planted the crops with 
the intention of selling them to wholesale accounts.  The only problem with that is I was at the mercy of 
the market value set by large, sometimes international corporations and receiving prices that were only 
making a small return on my capitol investment.  The CSA allowed me to charge full farmers market 
price and to get the capitol in early spring, allowing me to reinvest in the farm without having to ask for 
a loan from my banker.  That meant I had money to buy seed, repair equipment, hire labor, and try out 
new technology without feeling I was putting the farm at risk.  We have a summer membership of about 
35 members which I believe is the right balance of a CSA and direct market sales; in the past, we have 
had as many as 75 summer members!  We also have a winter membership that is capped at 35 
shareholders, although the demand for fresh organic vegetables in the winter is increasing year by year 
as more people come to understand the value of locally grown food. 
  Our third market includes wholesale accounts, which has been our least profitable area.  The 
problem is that we are competing with the big boys for market share in stores and restaurants.  That is 
okay when we have an abundance of vegetables; but, otherwise, it is difficult to make a profit.  For 
example, Santa Cruz Farm was the first farm in New Mexico to grow European Cucumbers.  We 
partnered with San Juan Pueblo to teach their members how to grow greenhouse produce.  They were 
doing quite well and receiving about $24 per case of cucumbers.  Halfway through the summer season, 
cucumbers from Canada started to make it into the market and the price dropped to around $12 to $18 
per case; yet, we were still competing and even making a profit, although less.  Then the imports from 
Mexico hit the market and the price dropped to $6 per case, and we started to lose money.  We closed 
down the operation the next crop rotation and have not gone back to full production since.  I still grow 
European Cucumbers, but just for the farmers’ markets. 
  Then, recently, as luck would have it, Mr. Craig Maples, marketing division, the Department of 
Agriculture at NMSU, and private citizens like Lynn Walters and many more introduced a memorial at 
the state legislator encouraging schools to buy directly from small local farmers.  We were fortunate enough to be chosen to supply the Santa Fe school district with salad greens through the Farm to School 
program.  This means we deliver freshly harvested salad greens to the distribution point in Santa Fe, and 
they send it off to different schools.  At this time, we are supplying the elementary schools in Santa Fe.  
We have to go through a bidding process and meet certain nutritional requirements set by the USDA 
regulations.  We are required to carry a one million dollar insurance policy and to harvest less than 24 
hours before delivery, package in three pound increments, and label each box with our name and the 
package’s destination.  We deliver before 6am on Monday mornings.  The price we are getting is 
profitable and we can count on a reliable market that is not at the mercy of market value.  This program 
has really helped us pay the bills in the winter and taken the pressure off of us in the summer.  Now we 
don’t have to grow and make all our income in a short summer season.  We can spread the risk all year.  
Craig Maples is working on increasing the markets to other school districts, and rumor has it that this 
coming year, we and other local farmers might have a market of up to 10,000 lunches per week. 
  Salad greens are not the only produce being bought by the school districts.  Apples watermelons, 
and many more locally grown fruits and vegetables are in high demand.  The greatest result is that 
young children are now eating healthy locally grown food produced by their neighbors on farms in their 
bio-region.  Thus, together, we are helping save the environment, addressing social issues, land and 
water issues, and supporting our local economy.  Thanks to modern advances and the increasing support 
for locally grown food, Santa Cruz Farm is able to function dependably while helping fill the needs of 
more and more members of the community through methods best suited to each one.  In this way, we 
maintain our traditional lifestyle while evolving to suit the needs of our environment and of our 
community. 
 
 

SANTA CRUZ FARM: DIRECT AND NICHE MARKETING IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

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