blackox I agree with Oxbow, New Mexico is a tough environment to farm in, not unlike my own which shares many similarities. There is both high desert, and low desert which are very different growing conditions.
I have spent a great deal of my adult life traveling through the towns and wilderness areas of the desert Southwest, particularly New Mexico. I think before you consider a move there you must not only study the ecosystem, but the culture, too, as they are both complex and deeply entwined with food production. It also helps if you love hot chiles! Feel free to PM me if you want to know more.
Here are a few books I'd recommend reading:
Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty
2013 by Gary Paul Nabhan and Bill McKibben
Gathering the Desert 1986
by Gary Paul Nabhan (Author), Paul Mirocha (Illustrator)
A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest 2013
by William deBuys (Author)
River of Traps: A New Mexico Mountain Life 2007
by William deBuys (Author), Alex Harris (Author)
The old ones of New Mexico 1973
by Robert Coles (Author)
Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico 1993
by Stanley Crawford (Author)
A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm 1998
by Stanley Crawford (Author)
The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos 1973
by Peggy Pond Church (Author)
If Mountains Die: A New Mexico Memoir 2006
by John Nichols (Author), William Davis (Photographer)
Last Beautiful Days of Autumn, The 2000
by John Nichols (Author)
The Milagro Beanfield War (novel & movie)
by John Nichols
Any of Tony Hillerman's mystery novels, which detail Puebloan culture
Simply Simpatico : A Taste of New Mexico 1981 (cookbook)
by Junior League Staff (Author)