The farm grows a variety of peppers for seed companies and has experimental plots such as tabasco peppers for the McElhenny Company, producers of Tabasco Sauce, with whom Cervantes has a long standing relationship. Cayenne chile harvested in the Cervantes fields are loaded into a hopper which will be taken to the mash plant. Many of the harvesters have worked for the Cervantes for many years. In addition to her business, Emma Jean shares her expertise with other organizations. She is chairperson of the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute, member of the USDA National Agriculture Research and Education Advisory Board and was recently appointed to a second three year term by the Secretary of Agriculture.
Enterprises also grows other crops including pecans, cotton, onions, alfalfa and pumpkins.
Not too bad for a farm operation that her grandfather started in the early 1900s with a few fields and land that mostly consisted of barren desert hills. Through years of working the land, the Cervantes 1,500 acre farm has become one of the most innovative and efficient operations in the Southwest. Containers of the bright red cayennes are also unloaded from trucks that have brought the chile from as far away as Mexico. The chile is transported in huge bins that are unloaded by fork lifts into a hopper where the chile is moved into the processing line. The bins are quickly loaded into hoppers where they are sent through a line to be washed and culled.