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.
1
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.
2
Higher-value crops such as vegetables and nuts showed greater short-term resilience to drought conditions, though they were not immune to income losses.
3
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.
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