Since dairies are relocating to the plains states, they can certainly relocate in the Clayton area. And the dairy industry is in a growth mode nationally for practically all of its products, except fluid milk, Libbin says. That is why cheese plants have been a growing part of the New Mexico landscape. Steady, rather than dramatic growth, is the mark of agriculture in the state when viewed as a whole. Corporate decisions in other states often make or break many businesses in New Mexico, as the building of the Intel plant and the closing of Levi Strauss and L'eggs plants in New Mexico attest.
Agriculture has the advantage of being geographically tied to the state's resources.
The industry is renewable and diversified enough to be stable. Stability in agriculture obscures wrenching change within the sector due to prices in a given commodity, changes in public policies, changes in weather or shifts in technology or consumer tastes. At the same time Libbin sees growth for New Mexico agriculture, he doesn't see any dramatic expansion of agricultural lands. Libbin conducted a study that showed onions to be New Mexico's most profitable crop in the long-term. His report was followed by a banner year for onion producers.