Farming in the Mesilla Valley is like baby-sitting the grandkids. For both, you need good management skills. You either adapt or get run over.

Farmers in the Mesilla Valley are such good adapters that total agricultural acreage today is almost the same as it was 50 years ago.

A world of change has taken place since I harvested my first crops of cotton and alfalfa in 1951 from our farm north of Las Cruces. Many small farms have gone by the wayside, making way for larger, consolidated operations. It's a shame, but a fact of life.

Today's agriculture just can't support the number of farmers that were here at the time of the two World Wars. Consolidation was made necessary by economics and made possible by machinery. One person can do the work of many on today's farm.

The invention of the laser planing system-God's gift to the irrigator-has been a boon to agriculture. Level fields and cement ditches that direct water where it's needed help conserve this precious resource. These advances in irrigation have allowed us to farm land that was unusable.

Niche markets in the Mesilla Valley are examples of free enterprise at its best. Vegetable crops such as lettuce and onions can bring upward of $1,000 per acre. If prices fall, farmers reduce their acreage of these niche crops-pure supply and demand.

Growth will happen. As agriculturists, we have to maintain working relationships with our urban neighbors. We're fortunate in New Mexico that some business people support agriculture. Much of this support stems from NMSU's educational, research and Extension efforts.

When I graduated from New Mexico A&M (now NMSU) in 1950, most agricultural classes were held in Foster Hall. Two Quonset huts, located where Gerald Thomas Hall is now, housed classes in agricultural engineering and agricultural economics.

New student enrollment in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is up 41.3 percent from last year. Building of a new facility-the Center for Sustainable Development of Arid Lands-is underway. NMSU is the "university of choice."

The university has grown because we needed to grow. One thing I learned in my 12 years serving on NMSU's Board of Regents is that power is limited when you work alone.

Agriculturists working together with the university, government, businesses and urban neighbors have a stronger voice. There is a common ground where we can survive together.

Carl Faubion served on NMSU's Board of Regents from 1986 to 1998.