April 29, 1956
A bigger short-time success story than that of Stahmann Farms, Las Cruces, N.M., would be hard to find in the Southwest.
Starting with 150 acres of irrigation-reclaimed lands in 1925, the farms’ management came to the conclusion fluctuating markets made one-crop farming a shaky business.
Consequently, in 1932 the first pecan trees were planted to back up the cotton crop. In the late ‘30s other land was given to alfalfa and stock-raising to further diversify the farms’ interests.
Twenty years later the farms’ management had become interested in the labor-saving possibilities presented by running geese in the cotton patches to keep the weeds eaten out. It appeared they might then market the geese.
A market study revealed goose sales were falling, but Stahmann solved the problem by marketing a different goose from the traditional stuffed-fat Christmas fowl. The Stahmann variety soon became known as a “Junior Goose.”
Lean and young (not over 16 weeks old), the junior goose went over well with food editors and housewives. In 1954 – two years after experiments had shown geese to be a profitable third crop – 190,000 of the Mesilla Valley fowls were sold from coast to coast.
Grown now to 4,000 acres in size, the farms have 96,000 pecan trees, which produced about three million pounds of nuts last year. Between the rows of trees the cotton grows and between the cotton rows the geese grow.
The farms, under direction of Deane and William J. Stahmann, now operate their own cotton gin and pecan shelling installations. They conduct their own breeding experiments with cotton and have developed two new varieties for which demand is growing.
Economy is the watchword. Broken pecan shells are used as ground covering in the gosling and goose pens; excess goose eggs are hatched and the goslings sold; goose down (about three carloads last year) is sold; a nursery of young pecan trees advertises “The Shade Tree That Pays You Rent.”
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