Farming in the Chihuahuan Desert. It seems like an oxymoron. But for the Giesbrecht family, this desert represents a landscape of opportunity that began in Mexico in the 1920s and continues today near Dell City and the Salt Flats of Hudspeth County, Texas. 

“My great grandparents moved from Canada to Mexico, the Chihuahua area, in 1922,” Jake Giesbrecht said of Jacob and Katerina Giesbrecht.  

Aboard a train, the Mennonite-faith couple traveled cross country only to arrive in an area with six buildings surrounded by endless desert. “They started from nothing,” Jake said. They settled towards the mountains in Cuauhtemoc. “They put up tents and started farming.” 

BJK Farms harvesting cotton in Hudspeth County. The Giesbecht family began farming in the Chihuahuan Desert in the 1920s in Mexico. Today, they're farming that same desert land but on the Texas side. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

The Giesbrechts grew dryland pinto beans, corn, oats, wheat and some barley, and ran cows for milk, butter and cheese. That desert supported three generations until they migrated to other countries, including the U.S.  

Little did the family know that more than a century later, Jake, his brother Benny and brother-in-law Klass Banman and their families, would return to that Chihuahuan Desert, but this time on the Texas side at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains, to grow corn, cotton and alfalfa.  

But the journey to get there wasn’t easy.  

Tough start 

Jake’s family tells stories of tough years in Mexico dryland farming with little rainfall.  

Related:Water woes lead cotton farmers to Texas desert

“In the 50s, they had three years in a row that were dry. My grandpa tells me that one year they sowed, and two years later, that’s when the crops sprouted.” 

Jake’s father was one of the first in the area to row water irrigate. But as manufacturing and the region’s population grew, so did their Mennonite colony. Opportunities to expand were limited.  

In the mid-80s, Jake’s father began to look for land elsewhere, purchasing land in Portales, N.M. Although the farm had plentiful water, it was salty, making production nearly impossible. However, the timing of their arrival in the U.S. coincided with President Ronald Reagan’s amnesty act, which gave legal status to minor children of parents granted amnesty under the immigration overhaul, including Jake. 

Producer Jake Giesbrecht was born in Mexico but after receiving his green card, he and his wife Tina moved to the U.S. where they have farmed since, including on this Salt Flat, Texas, farm. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

At the age of 18, with a green card in his hand, Jake soon met his wife, Tina. She was 19.  

“Her brother and I were best friends. I never saw her. I guess it wasn’t time,” he said with a laugh. “Once I was 18, all of a sudden I noticed her. I liked her.” He married her three years later, sponsoring her to receive a green card as well.  

American Dream 

When the couple wed, land prices in Mexico were three to four times higher than in the U.S. Jake didn’t see how he and his bride could make it work. While their extended family relocated to Paraguay, Bolivia, Honduras, and Belize, Jake had a burning desire to move north.  

Related:Texas farmers set new PB with 5-plus bale cotton

Farmland in Paris, Texas, became available, giving birth to the couple’s American Dream. 

Jake arrived in the U.S. with a sixth-grade education, speaking three languages:  German, low German, and enough Spanish “to get by” but no English. “I never got educated or went to school in English. I just picked it up and learned it myself,” he said. 

The Guadalupe Mountains serve as a backdrop to the Giesbrecht's Salt Flat farm. Jake and his family began farming in that region due to the abundant irrigation. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

The couple, along with Jake’s parents, grew corn, wheat and soybeans. “We tried that for three years. We made one good crop out of three. There was either too much rain or not enough. It didn’t work,” he said. “It was hard.”  

So, they began to look elsewhere and in 1991, found land near Seminole, Texas. “We started with one section, and it grew to a little over 10,000 acres. It’s been good for us,” Jake said. They grow cotton and peanuts. 

Depleting aquifer 

But farming around Seminole has become increasingly difficult. Between the depleting Ogallala Aquifer and more frequent drought, without “a good rain,” Jake finds it harder and harder to produce sufficient yields. So, like generations prior, he began to look for a new opportunity. 

Related:Texas Rolling Plains hit hard by August heatwave, drought

In 2016, he was led back to the Chihuahuan Desert, but this time near Salt Flat and Dell City, Texas, which is also called the “Valley of Hidden Water.” The region only receives about 2 inches of rain annually, but its irrigation water is pumped from the Bone Spring-Victorio Peak Aquifer, a rechargeable water source.  

Cotton yields have ranged from 3.5 bales up to 7 and 8 eight bales to the acre in spots. “It’s amazing,” Jake said. “It’s very good.” 

Mentors 

Whether he’s farming in Seminole or in the desert, the same desire he had to learn as a preteen when he had to give up his education for farming, has never waned. He credits his success to his faith, family and farming mentors. 

When he and Tina arrived in Seminole, area producers such as Larry Day, David Hicks and Gary Jackson taught him how to grow crops in the semi-arid region. “It was natural to look at somebody who was successful, and then ask questions if they were willing to share with me,” he said. 

Stuart Davidson, Jake’s Helena Chemical representative, who he’s worked with for the last 20 years, noted Jake’s insatiable desire to learn and try new things. “Jake’s constantly searching for knowledge. Anything I hear about, I’ll come talk to him. He’ll usually try it on half, take a look at it and if it makes a difference, they’ll incorporate it. 

“Anything he can do to improve himself, he’ll do it.” 

Jake Giesbrecht, left, stands with Stuart Davidson, his Helena Chemical sales representative for the last 20 years, in a field trial he has planted on one of his Salt Flat farms. Davidson admires Giesbrecht's eagerness to learn and improve himself and his yields. (Photo by Shelley E. Huguley)

Faith is his cornerstone. “I’m a Christian,” Jake said. “When we’re done planting, we’ll gather at the end, pray and ask for God’s blessing. We tried our part, so now we want to give it back to him.” 

And when the 2024 harvest wraps up, they’ll gather in the desert, as generations prior, and give thanks once again.