Farmers in north central New Mexico have made relatively little progress 

 over the years in improving production and marketing methods for their fruit 

 and vegetable crops. 



An example of this is the chile crop^ 'yvThich has been produced and marketed 

 in the saine manner for decades. Chile is still planted and harves*::ed entirely 

 by hand labcr wifciv the rainimum labor requirements estimated at 35 .aaa^^iciys an 

 acre. The markeeirig rasCh^d for the product is ssseEtlally s. retail operation 

 of peddling at local stores and on a house to house basis. 



I conferred with project leaders, psrsoanel from the Stats Extension Ser- 

 vice and the University of New Mexico State, represeatati-?es of the Cooperative 

 Council of New MeKico, aad othar knowledgeabla persons ia nortJharQ IS®w Mexico „ 

 They provided information on the proposed projects and background on trends 

 and changes in the area's agriculture. 



Additional infermation relating to the proposal projac&s uas obtained from 

 Phil Lavato, Firoject Coordinator, Soil Conservation Service, and Gene Ott, 

 Extension and Business Manageirient Specialist at New Mexico St-ate University. 



I also acquired consideraible Information through personal interviews with 

 the count}' ageints of the State Extension Service for the respective counties of 

 Rio Arriba, Sante Fe, and Taos. These agents are of Spariiah^Araerlean origin and 

 each has approximately 17 years ^ experience in ivorking closely with the chile 

 and fruit growers in the Espanola Galley. They believe thac che growers at this 

 time are somewhat hesicant to go the cooperative way in establishing a processing 

 plant for chile and a packing shed and cold storage facilities for fruit. 



This hesitancy seems ii' parr, from the past failurf-r of fruic packing coop- 

 ■iratives in this area. Poor planning, excessive risk sharing, and short supplies 

 resulting from unfavorable weather conditions were factors in the ultimate collapse 

 of these early ventures. The most recent failure was the Truchas Peak Cooperative, 

 organized prim.arily as an apple packing shed for the Espanola Vaiiej-, 



