Striking gold? Growers in Northern New Mexico try saffron, world's most expensive spice

ALCALDE

Douglas Oberwortmann and his wife have been picking saffron crocus blooms almost every day for the past three weeks, then carefully removing the bright red, thread-like stigmas from each flower. Those are the fruits of their labor.

Farming 3 acres of saffron on their property in Ribera is not necessarily romantic — but collecting hundreds of flowers each day is a labor of love.

The Oberwortmanns are among a handful of small growers experimenting with saffron in New Mexico. Around the country, several states including Kentucky, Vermont and Pennsylvania have shown interest in the expensive spice as a high-profit agricultural product.

New Mexico might be better suited, said Saeid Zehtab Salmasi, a New Mexico State University associate professor and the research director at the sch