About El Air Ag Services, LLC · Est. 1985
Making Southwest agriculture feel like a neighborhood.
El Air Ag Services, LLC exists to help growers succeed by connecting the right products, local knowledge, practical support, and community relationships.
El Air Ag Services, LLC · 40th Anniversary · 1985 – 2025
Our History
“On the wings of a Cessna Ag Wagon a dream took off on a journey of a lifetime.”
Larry Durkin began his crop dusting career in Greeley, CO in 1984, working for an ag outfit there. Upon moving back to Hatch, NM he purchased a Cessna Ag Wagon from Robert Elliot and began his own crop dusting business in March of 1985. The reason it is called El Air is because Robert Elliot's business was named El Air and he had a large stack of blank invoices that he passed on, so Larry just kept the name.
The first year, and for many thereafter, his sisters Bonnie and Karen were the flaggers, and his brother Jack mixed the chemicals. He sprayed fields in the Hatch area as well as Socorro County. In 1986 the operation moved to Socorro Airport with an office in one of the hangers. As time went on the business began to expand with new employees coming on board, including Martha Harris assisting Bonnie in the office and Karen managing the gas and oil delivery business that ran for several years. In 1991 the family moved to its present location near Lemitar, NM and kept expanding its product line. Larry ceased aerial crop dusting and went to a ground rig in 1996 (or so) which continued for two years. (His son Brian began helping in 1995 at age 13.) After 1998 the spray operation ceased and the emphasis was on product supply and some custom work.
After Larry passed in 2013, his son Brian took the lead in partnership with Bonnie. In 2023, his daughter Annette Hitchcock and Danny Hitchcock took over the running of the business, with the help of their son Jared and Bonnie's continued input.
Sincere thanks for the 40 years of trust you have given us!
From the tops of our silos to the bottom of our hearts, we appreciate you,
Your El Air Ag Team
Who We Serve
From row crops to local food — every grower has a path here.
El Air Ag Services, LLC serves traditional growers, commercial farms, regenerative producers, organic-minded growers, hay and forage operations, small farms, local food producers, and people strengthening the regional food system.
We are not a corporate catalog. We are people who show up for growers — with the right seed, the right input, the right test, or the right phone call.
Our work is grounded in one belief: all growers prosper, and all communities are fed.
Values
What guides the work.
Grower-first service
Every conversation starts with what you're growing.
Practical answers
Real guidance for real fields, not buzzwords.
Local relationships
We know the people, places, and pressures of the Southwest.
Responsible product guidance
The right input — not just any input on the shelf.
Stronger farms
Helping operations of every size keep going, season after season.
Fed communities
When growers prosper, communities eat. That's the work.
Long-term soil and crop success
Decisions that hold up next year and the year after.
Not sure what you need yet?
Tell us what you're growing, what you're fighting, and what kind of season you're facing. We'll help you find the right next step.