Amid in Albuquerque鈥檚 North Valley, Monday鈥檚 storm had the potential to provide some welcome relief for area farmers. But instead, unusually heavy hail decimated many of their crops.
This is Seth Matlick鈥檚 thirteenth season farming in New Mexico. The owner of said he鈥檚 never seen this level of hail damage. 鈥淥ur field was completely under about two inches of water with ice floating through most of it,鈥� he said.
Matlick said the farm lost around 90 percent of what remained of spring crops, which would usually last them through next month. On top of that, 100 percent of the farm鈥檚 new sprouts were shredded. 鈥淎ll of our outdoor heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, melons, eggplant, hot and sweet peppers, flowers and herbs,鈥� he said, listing his destroyed summer crops.
Matlick said that鈥檚 a loss of tens of thousands of dollars for his operation. And his farm wasn鈥檛 alone. He鈥檚 spoken to several other North Valley farmers who also lost the majority of their outdoor crops. Though, he doesn鈥檛 think it鈥檒l disrupt food production city-wide. 鈥淔urther from us, it seems like a lot of farmers were scared but pulled through,鈥� he said.
Luckily it鈥檚 early enough in the season, he said, that Vida Verde will be able to replant. In the meantime, he and his team will have to make do with anything salvageable. 鈥淵ou know, farmers are resilient,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e clean up, we make a plan, and we keep moving forward.鈥�
