Around the time the Artesia Alfalfa Growers’ Association (AAGA) was picking up steam, a writer with the Artesia Advocate – the Daily Press’ original incarnation – reported an encounter with a prospector from Arkansas in which the visitor stated the Artesia area was good for just two things.
“I have found out by experience that this climate will sure cure asthma, and alfalfa grows like ragweeds,” the man said.
What was spoken somewhat derisively was actually, the Advocate reasoned, a compliment.
“For the man who wants to make money farming, alfalfa is the most satisfactory and remunerative crop in the world,” the article stated, “and the man who is suffering with asthma would give all his landed estates for the certainty of relief from suffering.
“The country that can offer both health and wealth certainly possesses enough virtue to capture immigration.”
Artesia has long been proud of its agricultural heritage, and at the center of the industry since its inception in May 1921 has been the AAGA.
One year following its establishment, manager W.R. Hornbaker garnered attention from The National Hay Press for the simple note he included with the AAGA’s $15 dues.
“Here’s our 1923 fee,” Hornbaker wrote. “It is worth the money.”
The Hay Press appreciated the sentiment but also recognized the AAGA, which at the time maintained loading stations in Artesia, Lake Arthur, Espuela and Atoka and would soon begin running gins in the latter two areas, as a premier organization.
“In addition to being large handlers of alfalfa, and a mighty fine grade of this class of hay, they are trying to bring about uniform inspection and grading; in other words, they are conducting their business along 20th century lines,” wrote the Hay Press. “We feel it an honor to have this type of men with us and especially proud to know that they are willing to back us in our efforts.”
The AAGA, located at 110 E. Mill Road, has served Artesia’s agricultural community in a variety of capacities in the past 94 years, some of which have been phased out over time. Today, the facility offers three primary services: cotton ginning, scales, and a hardware store, which is located in the building at 204 E. Main St. that the organization has maintained since 1929.
Its more modern office building on Mill was constructed in 1999, four years into the tenure of current office manager Maxine Davis.
Today’s AAGA is under the operating direction of a board of directors, which includes Wayne Netherlin, president, Brian Johnson, vice president, Steve Spence, secretary/treasurer, and board member Lance Conklin. The organization employs nine including Davis: one gin manager and two gin employees, one scale operator, and four staff members at the hardware store.
Cotton ginning comprises the bulk of the AAGA’s activities, with the first bale – always a noteworthy event in the community – expected within the next week or two.
Farmers may become members of the AAGA for a one-time fee, but membership is not required to gin there. After collecting their cotton into 10,000- to 25,000-pound modules, farmers are then able to turn the crop over to the AAGA, where it is placed on the module feeder and ginned.
Farmers then have the option of selling to one of the three cotton buyers with which the AAGA deals, and the product is distributed to those dealers by the Alfalfa Growers.
The AAGA has a few new plans on the horizon, including the implementation of pesticide application services. But as they prepare to usher in another harvest season, their ultimate function remains the same: to provide quality service to Artesia’s proud – and decidedly non-asthmatic – ag industry.
