The Chronicles Of Grant County
Agriculture In Catron County
There were 305 farms operating in Catron County in 2022. (The map was provided courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture, 2024.)
While there was an 11% decrease in the number of farms in Catron County during the five years from 2017 to 2022, there was also a steady increase in the amount of acreage used for agricultural purposes in Catron County during that same time period.
In 2022, there were 305 farms in Catron County. This was a decrease in the number of farms from 2017 when there were 341 farms in the county. The number of farms in 2017 was 3% less than the number of farms in 2012 in Catron County.
A total of 95% of these farms were family farms in 2022; the percentage was 96% in 2017.
These statistics – and other statistics detailed in this news series – are from reports issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA conducts its Census of Agriculture every five years. The results of the 2022 Census, the most recent one completed, were released in 2024. This series of news columns includes information from that Census as well as the 2017 and 2012 Censuses of Agriculture.
Please note that the USDA redacted certain information from these reports.
Farms in Catron County included a total of 1,396,946 acres of land in 2022. This amount of acreage was an 11% increase in acreage used by farms from 2017 when 1,260,711 acres were used by farms in the county. That amount of acreage in 2017 was 17% more than the amount of acreage used by farms in Catron County in 2012.
The average size of a farm in Catron County in 2022 increased by 24% from the average size of a farm in 2017. In 2022, the average size of a farm in the county was 4,580 acres; in 2017, it was 3,697 acres. That average size of a farm in 2017 reflected a 20% increase in the average size of a farm in the county from 2012.
More than one-third (34%) of the farms in Catron County each included more than 1,000 acres in 2022; 104 farms were in this category. Twenty-six percent of the farms in the county each included 50 to 179 acres in 2022; 78 farms were in that category. Seventeen percent of the farms each included 180 to 499 acres, while fourteen percent of the farms each included 10 to 49 acres; 52 farms were in the first group, with 44 farms in the second group. Seven percent of all of the farms – 20 farms – in Catron County included 500 to 999 acres. Two percent of Catron County's farms (seven farms) included one to nine acres each in 2022.
Five years earlier, in 2017, 29% of the farms each had more than 1,000 acres in Catron County; 99 farms each had more than 1,000 acres in 2017. Twenty-two percent of the farms each included 50 to 179 acres in that year; 75 farms fit in this category. Seventeen percent of Catron County's farms – 59 farms – included 10 to 49 acres each. Farms with 180 to 499 acres each (46 farms) and with 500 to 999 acres each (43 farms) each represented 13% of all farms in Catron County in 2017. Six percent of the farms in the county each had 1 to 9 acres; these farms numbered 19 farms.
The market value of products sold by farms in Catron County was $17,158,000 in 2022. This was an 81% increase from the market value of products sold by farms five years earlier. Then, the market value of products sold by farms in the county was $9,471,000; that value was a 26% decrease from the market value of products sold in 2012.
More than four out of ten (44%) of the farms in Catron County each had sales valued at less than $2,500 in 2022; 135 farms fit in this category. That percentage was similar to the one in 2017 when 45% of the farms in the county had sales valued at less than $2,500; 155 farms were in that category.
Fourteen percent of the farms in Catron County – 44 farms – had sales valued at more than $100,000 in 2022. This represented an increase from 2017 when 25 farms, representing 7% of all of the farms in the county, each had sales of $100,000 or more.
Also in 2022, 14% of the county's farms had sales valued at $10,000 to $24,999; 43 farms fit in this group. Five years earlier, in 2017, this category included 13% of the farms (44 farms) in the county.
Of the $17,158,000 in market value of products sold by farms in Catron County in 2022, $188,000 were in crops and $16,970,000 were in livestock, poultry, and products.
Major categories of crops specifically identified in this county included "fruits, tree nuts, berries" valued at $86,000; "other crops and hay" valued at $48,000; and "vegetables, melons, potatoes, sweet potatoes" valued at $26,000 in 2022.
The largest category by far noted for livestock, poultry, and products was "cattle and calves." Products in this category were valued at $16,322,000 in 2022.
Of the $9,471,000 in market value of products sold by farms in Catron County in 2017, $134,000 were in crops and $9,337,000 were in livestock, poultry, and products.
The only category of crops specifically identified in this county was "vegetables, melons, potatoes, sweet potatoes" valued at $115,000 in 2017.
As in 2022, the largest category of livestock, poultry, and products specifically identified in this county was "cattle and calves" valued at $8,832,000 in 2017.
Government payments to farms in Catron County increased 195% from $970,000 in 2017 to $2,864,000 in 2022. The government payments in 2017 were 58% more than the government payments made to farms in the county in 2012.
The net cash income of farms in Catron County increased by 11% from 2017 to 2022. Net cash farm income was $1,155,000 in 2022, and $1,044,000 in 2017. The net cash farm income in 2017 was 176% higher than the net cash farm income in 2012.
There were 556 producers of agricultural products in Catron County in 2022. Of that number, 325 were male and 231 were female. Of the total number of producers, 236 were 65 years of age or older and 526 were White. One hundred and fifty of the total number of producers were new and beginning farmers, 66 of the total had served in the United States military, and 155 of the total were of Hispanic origin.
There were 609 producers of agricultural products in Catron County in 2017. Of that number, 354 were male and 255 were female. Of the total number of producers, 224 were 65 years of age or older and 591 were White. Two hundred of the total number of producers were new and beginning farmers, 85 of the total had served in the United States military, and 141 of the total were of Hispanic origin.
As of December 31, 2022, there were 35,250 cattle and calves, 948 horses and ponies, 609 egg-laying chickens, 178 goats, 114 sheep and lambs, 48 pullets, 22 hogs and pigs, and 9 turkeys on farms in Catron County.
As of December 31, 2017, there were 23,241 cattle and calves, 776 horses and ponies, 572 egg-laying chickens, 270 sheep and lambs, 217 goats, and 98 pullets on farms in Catron County.
Do you have questions about communities in Grant County and Southwest New Mexico?
A street name? A building?
Your questions may be used in a future news column.
Contact Richard McDonough at
If your email does not go through, please contact
© 2025 Richard McDonough
