Farmers are left with no means of supporting their families. That's why many are leaving behind their farms and families in Mexico to come to the United States to work. Perez lays part of the blame on the overly ambitious Mexican administrations of the 1970s. Perez said then-President Echeverria once proclaimed that only roads in Mexico would not be planted in crops. Sand from the coast is now blowing toward Tamaulipas.
Red soil blowing in the wind sometimes falls with rain in Monterrey and even here in the Valley.
That soil is coming from Zacatecas and Durango, which are both in very sad shape. Perez said that six years ago John Deere International began forming farmers clubs in 10 areas of Mexico to encourage the practice of conservation tillage whereby fewer passes by machinery are made over fields and crop residues are left on the surface to reduce erosion and help the soil retain moisture and nutrients. Perez said there is renewed hope for assistance from the Mexican government after finally meeting recently with top officials of the Fox administration. Right now, of the 21 million hectares of available farmland in Mexico, 1.6 million hectares are totally eroded, lost. It will be very difficult to rescue them.