By Sarah Mock, NM Healthy Soil Working Group. Images copyright Esha Chiocchio 2026.
All across the Land of Enchantment, farmers and ranchers put in the work to make our soils more alive and resilient. And today, that work is being recognized in a big way.
In collaboration with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, NM Healthy Soil Working Group is rolling out a public campaign called “Healthy Soil. Growing New Mexico’s Future.” to celebrate and support land stewards as they pursue soil health goals and priorities into the future. As part of this campaign, five producers from across the state agreed to share their soil health journeys and offer insight into what New Mexico’s future might look like as we continue investing in the land. Their stories were captured by award-winning Santa Fe-based photographer Esha Chiocchio.
Each of the farmers focused on a different soil health principle. Don Bustos of Santa Cruz Farm highlights Soil Health Principle #1: Keeping Soil Covered, discussing his cover crop practices and how he aims to mimic nature on the farm, even if it might look a little “weedy” sometimes. Beyond keeping soil covered with plant material though, Don is also working to keep the land covered with people who are invested in its longevity. He describes himself as the “temporary” manager of the operation that’s been in his family for 400 years, because he plans on the farm being in the family for the next 24 generations as well. This mindset of continuity and intergenerational collaboration is reflected from the soil on up.
Jim Armendariz of Rancho Armendariz in Santa Rosa demonstrates Principle #2: Minimizing Soil Disturbance, especially in the expansive world of New Mexican rangeland. He focuses on maximizing rest and recovery for sensitive grasslands by creating smaller paddocks and moving his cattle more regularly across the landscape. New technologies like virtual fencing, where cattle wear collars that keep them within the bounds of one area before being moved to the next, have made it possible for Jim to dial in his adaptive grazing strategies even more, maximizing rest and minimizing disturbances. This has helped with the environmental and economic viability of the ranch, as the soil and grasses thrive and Jim can actually raise more cattle despite the drought.
For Ernest Diswood, who ranches on Navajo Nation Grazing Land, Principle #3: Maximizing Biodiversity starts with keeping water on the land. Supporting a diverse ecosystem of living plant roots is key to holding on to precipitation, reducing erosion, and to raising healthy animals. Investing in the life both above and below the soil has allowed Ernest to weather recent droughts while maintaining his herds of sheep and cattle and the ranch’s economic viability.
Jennifer Pierce of Little Andy Farm in Roswell describes her efforts to implement Principle #4: Maintaining Living Roots on her farm. Her journey began when she started rehabilitating parts of the farm where the ground had become bare, which she did by planting a mix of cover crops using no-till methods. Today, she tends a diversity of living plants year round, which not only helps with water infiltration into the soil and reducing erosion, but also makes valuable nutrients like nitrogen and calcium more available to plants.
Over in Columbus, NM, James Johnson of WR Johnson & Sons LLC is tackling Principle #5: Integrating Animals, and not just for the soil health benefits. James is also facing other pressures on his farm, especially from sky-high input costs, which make finding an alternative to current industrial ag systems a necessity. That’s why he’s using sheep and goats to replace expensive fertilizers and equipment whenever he can, turning cover crops and other surface biomass into “black gold,” or manure, that puts healthy bacteria, organic matter, and life back into the soil at impressive levels. “Healthy soil,” he says, “is vital to human existence.”
Though each of these growers were selected because of the ways that they exemplify a single soil health principle, in reality, all of them are working diligently to stack as many of these principles on their operations as possible.
Over the coming months, New Mexicans will be able to experience parts of these farmer’s stories; on billboards, in radio spots, online videos, and on social media. This campaign captures only a tiny fragment of all the work these and countless other farmers and ranchers across New Mexico are doing every day to help grow New Mexico’s future.
Leave a Reply