New Mexico’s largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation, Los Poblanos Organics, has changed its name to Skarsgard Farms.

Since 2003, the organic farm has operated from its headquarters in Albuquerque’s North Valley on the land that includes the Los Poblanos Inn and Cultural Center, reports New Mexico Business Weekly. As part of the transition to its new name, the business will move those headquarters to its 19,000-s.f. office and warehouse space at 2200 Zearing Ave. NW in the city’s Sawmill District. The farm harvests the majority of its food from a South Valley farm in the Los Padillas area, which has two 12,000-s.f. greenhouses on 35 acres.

“Many people have always thought that [the] Los Poblanos [Inn and Cultural Center] and Los Poblanos Organics [were] one and the same,” said Matt Rembe of the Rembe family, which owns the land at 4803 Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Skarsgard has been leasing three acres of farmland from the Rembes since 2003. Rembe said it has been easy to think the operations are one and the same because “our missions and business goals have been closely intertwined for almost a decade.”

“Farmer” Monte Skarsgard, owner of Skarsgard Farms, said he had been pondering a name change for several months and that the timing was right.

“I thought about how this venture started nine years ago on the historic Los Poblanos Ranch, thanks to the generosity of the Rembe family, who agreed to let me farm their land,” Skarsgard told Business Weekly. “The fact is the scale of our farm has expanded greatly since then and we now grow most everything on our South Valley farm. I grew up playing in the fields of the North Valley, so I loved being able to name the farm after my childhood stomping grounds. But now, our scope is no longer just one area in the North Valley. Our dreams and goals are larger than that.”

In addition to expanding its farmland from three acres to 35, Skarsgard said membership has grown from 17 in 2003 to 3,800 today. The cornerstone of the business is a weekly “harvest box” of fruits and vegetables that comes with the option of add-ons, such as New Mexico cheeses, meats and nuts. Members pay between $24 and $42 for the box, depending on the contents of its seasonal produce.

“Thanks to our members, sales volumes have grown at an annualized rate of 74 percent over the last nine years,” Skarsgard said.

“We chose a name that we hope exemplifies pride in local American farming, and recognizes my family’s century-long dedication to the land,” said Skarsgard, whose family began farming in North Dakota at the beginning of the 20th Century. “Nothing will change for our members except the name. The new name also speaks to my personal commitment to the local food and small farm movements here in New Mexico.”

“We are Monte’s biggest fans,” Rembe said. “We watched him start his business from scratch, farming only a small portion of the fields with minimal equipment, to growing into one of the most successful CSA farms in the nation, with almost 4,000 members receiving fresh organic produce weekly. It is a remarkable achievement.”

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