ON A CLOUDLESS MAY morning, girls in sparkly white dresses and boys in tidy polos mill about. The crowd of more than 250 goes silent as Bishop Peter Baldacchino strides to the front of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum gathering. “It’s going to be a great day,” he exclaims, kicking off the 26th annual Blessing of the Fields processional honoring San Ysidro, the patron saint of farmers.
A carved bulto of the 12th-century Spanish saint, who devoted his life to caring for the land and animals, is carried along as Baldacchino and Tortugas Pueblo leaders guide the group toward corrals of sheep and cattle. They raise their voices to sing hymns before the processional moves to the fields and blessings are offered. Near a shallow irrigation ditch, young girls spread rose petals as the first trickles flow into the acequia, and with them the hopes for a productive growing season.
The signature event, which combines Pueblo and Catholic traditions, is a portal for many to the museum. Set on a sprawling 47-acre campus in Las Cruces, the Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum invites visitors to embrace the region’s 4,000-year agricultural heritage through displays, interactive activities, and demonstrations. “The story we tell here affects everybody,” says Steve Loring, the museum’s interim executive director. “If you eat, you’re part of agriculture; if you wear cotton clothes, you’re part of agriculture.”
That story plays out in real time as kids ride ponies and workers tend to horses, sheep, and seven different breeds of cattle. At the Dairy Spot, interactive stations like a butter churn and a cheese fridge help kids understand that the milk on their kitchen table at home comes from cows like the ones on the museum’s livestock area. “They make the connection that New Mexico has land that’s green and beautiful,” says Desirie Lara, museum experience supervisor, “and that people have been farming and ranching here for thousands of years.”
The Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum displays historic ag items. Photograph by Douglas Merriam.
Inside, patrons of all ages can personalize their adventure based on their interests. Wild West aficionados stand toe-to-toe with Billy the Kid himself—well, a rifle-toting, life-size bronze version—at the entrance to the exhibit that bears his name. Chile lovers discover the origins of New Mexico’s beloved fruit (yes, you’ll learn that too) at the Beyond the Farm exhibition. Gearheads examine the mechanical underpinnings of a 1940s John Deere tractor with a hand-crank starter, a half-ton International Harvester pickup, a trio of chuckwagons, and even the horse-drawn wagon known as the Pat Garrett hearse, which purportedly transported the famous lawman to his Las Cruces grave in 1908.
A short stroll from Beyond the Farm, the AgrAbility exhibition demonstrates how 21st-century technology helps folks with physical disabilities pursue ag careers. Visitors can slide into the seat of a combine simulator configured from a tractor cab or don a pair of eyeglasses that replicate vision impairment. “People think agriculture is just raising animals and crops,” Loring says. “This museum is so much more. It’s about education and connection. It’s about how things work and how we tie them together.”
Whatever brings visitors, from the annual procession to a fascination with antique farm equipment, Loring hopes it sparks an “aha” moment that connects them to the state’s land and heritage. “This museum is about celebrating the agricultural tradition, history, and culture that make New Mexico special,” he says.
MUSEUM CHECKLIST
For more hands-on fun, visit the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque, with more than 250 STEAM exhibits; the Santa Fe Bug and Reptile Museum, which lets you get close to touchable creatures; and the Museum of Nature and Science in Las Cruces, which offers experiences with desert life and light and space.