PubMed · 2026-05-13
A new economic analysis of New Mexico agriculture reveals that drought hits forage and grain crops hardest and longest, while nuts and vegetables bounce back faster. Groundwater-dependent farming regions suffer extra losses because pumping costs spike when surface water runs dry.
Forage and grain crops (like alfalfa and corn) experienced the largest and most persistent income losses across the 2017–2019 drought period relative to the 2015 baseline.
Higher-value crops such as vegetables and nuts showed greater short-term resilience to drought conditions, though they were not immune to income losses.
Groundwater-dependent river basins suffered amplified income losses due to rising pumping costs, exposing a key limit to groundwater as a long-term drought buffer.
