Truth Or Consequences, NM 87901(Sierra County)

The Buckhorn ranch has been managed intensively under the concepts of Holistic Management/Regenerative grazing since 1990. There are a total of 44 pastures plus the large Malpais pasture. The Malpais pasture is generally grazed in the winter months and the other pastures are grazed an average of one week each and rested approximately four to eight months before being grazed again. This type of grazing management allows for flexibility based on climatic conditions and livestock needs. The ranch is recipient of numerous Stewardship Awards.

Location

The ranch is located approximately 45-50 miles SSW of San Antonio, NM and 40 miles east of Truth or Consequences, NM and is accessible by State and County roads. The ranch is bordered on the east by the White Sands Missile Range and on the west by the Pedro Armendaris Land Grant.

Acreage

The Buckhorn ranch is 42,147+/- acres in size and consists of 1,120+/- deeded acres, 5,094+/- acres leased from New Mexico State Land Office, 33,633+/- acres leased from the Bureau of Land Management, and 2,300+/- acres of uncontrolled (free use) land.

Vegetation

The ranch has a wide variety of grass, shrub, and forbs. Some of the more common grass species include black grama, blue grama, sideoats grama, sand dropseed, mesa dropseed, alkali sacaton, bush muhly, wolf tail, Arizona cottontop, etc.

Shrub species include Mormon tea, four-wing saltbush (Chamise), broom snakeweed, creosote bush, apache plume, mariola, cactus, soaptree yucca, etc.

Bureau of Land Management condition and trend studies from 1982 to 2014 indicate that range condition has improved, bare ground has decreased, and litter covering the soil has also increased. The improvement in ecologic conditions are the result of the regenerative grazing management implemented on the ranch since 1990.

Soils

The soils are mostly gravelly loam, gravelly, sandy, and malpais. These soils are moderately rolling to moderately sloping. The Bureau of Land Management rate the soils on the Buckhorn ranch as stable. The conditions on all the ecological sites assessed are sustainable and productive.

Grazing Capacity

The Buckhorn ranch is rated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at 504 animal units (1 AU = 1cow and calf) year round or 5,020 animal unit months. The current grazing fee is $1.35 per animal unit month. The BLM grazing fee is paid after the fact; the fee is paid based upon the actual number of livestock that were grazed on the ranch instead of being paid at the beginning of the grazing year based on estimated numbers.

Improvements - Range

The Buckhorn ranch has an extensive fencing and water system. The interior fences are two wire electric; a hot and a ground wire, very effective in confining livestock for rotation while allowing wildife to cross without tearing up the fences. All boundary fences are barbed wire and in good condition.

The water system consists of 30 miles of pipeline connected to six wells, 13 livestock drinkers, 200,000 gallons of storage. There are 3 solar and 1 electric booster pumps that will move the water to where the cattle rotate through 44 pastures. The water system provides more than adequate water for one herd of livestock. In addition, there are five wells currently not utilized in the pipeline system that can be tied into the pipeline for additional water.

The ranch has been treated for brush control over the past 20 years that has eliminated about 90% of the creosote. This practice reduces brush competing with grass for water and nutrients which improves the productivity of the ranch.

Improvements - Buildings etc.

The headquarters include an approximately 3500 square foot nice, comfortable home, as well as a shop, hay barn, saddle house, horse stalls, corrals, a roping arena and a round pen. The stuccoed home has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, an open living/dining room, mudroom, office, and laundry room. The kitchen has modern stainless appliances and a functioning antique wood cook stove.

Terrain

Topography of the ranch ranges from 6200 feet in the San Andres foothills in the southern part of the ranch, to 4000-4500 feet on the north end of the ranch in the Malpais pasture. This gives the ranch a 16 mile long sloping northern aspect and north facing slopes receive less exposure to the sun, therefore being generally cooler which favorably impacts soil temperature, evaporation, and vegetative growth.

The landscape consists of long, gentle sloping ridges north to south, with draws and drainages in between the ridges.

Climate

There arent any current National Weather Service(NWS) stations in the close vicinity of the ranch. However, old NWS records at Engle, 20 miles to the west of the ranch, from 1894-1988, showed an average of 10.76 inches of precipitation.

Bosque del Apache NWS, which is approximately 40 miles northwest of the ranch, shows annual precipitation to be 8.72 inches from 1894-2021.

Winters are moderate with snowfall below four inches, although, some years the ranch can receive snowfall of a foot or more. The snow will generally melt rapidly over a couple of days. There are very few days when ice in the troughs has to be broken. With the one-herd grazing system in place, there is only one to two troughs that are being used by the cattle at any one time.

Temperatures will range between 90-100 degrees in the summer to 60-70 degrees at night.

Wildlife

Because the ranch lies between White Sands Missile Range and the Pedro Armendaris Land Grant, and because of the availability of water on the ranch, big game species such as oryx, mule deer, and antelope are attracted to and migrate onto the ranch.

Taxes

Price

$3,500,000 - This equates to an investment of $6,945 per animal unit as compared to $10-20,000 per animal unit for an all deeded ranch.

Contact me for more detailed information and ranch map in a brochure that I can send you.