By Laura Weingartner
A group of students wearing dark blue corduroy jackets sat in the front row in Delta’s Junior/Senior High School gym early on Saturday, Feb. 22. Members of the Delta and Midnight Sun chapters of Alaska’s Future Farmers of America were there to introduce the day’s speakers and learn about more about the agriculture industry at the 53rd annual Delta Farm Forum,
“It’s a great opportunity for the more introverted of us to get up and talk and meet farmers,” said Isabel Orona, president of the Midnight Sun Chapter. It’s her fourth year attending and helping with introductions.
Her mom, Meghan Orona, who raises beef cattle on Northern Rosebud Farm, agreed that the forum is a “great opportunity to network with farms, UAF Cooperative Extension agents and people from all different agencies.”
The day featured various presentations from financial resources for farmers to research in veterinary science and a discussion on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal to transition the Alaska Division of Agriculture into a state Department of Agriculture.
Joanne McCrea, a veterinarian with the UAFs’ Veterinary Medicine Program, describes a method for correcting uterine torsion in dairy cows
Alaska State Veterinarian, Sarah Coburn, discussed avian influenza and how farmers can protect their flocks from an outbreak. She explained it’s carried primarily by migrating waterfowl and mutates easily. While wild birds and domestic waterfowl are better adapted to the disease, some variations can kill whole flocks of chickens and domestic turkeys. Coburn said the best way to protect flocks from the disease is to prevent contact with wild birds, especially waterfowl.
Rachel Christensen, an animal research scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and Joanne McCrea, a veterinarian with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Veterinary Medicine Program also gave talks focused on livestock. Christensen discussed her research on nutrients available in cover crops, pasture and hay in Delta Junction, while McCrea described how to manage calving complications in dairy cows.
AgWest Farm Credit’s Whitney Tatafu highlighted programs for young, beginning and small producers, like reduced rates, financial mentoring and AgVision loans.
“It was great having AgWest here,” Meghan Orona said. “I didn’t even know about them before.”
A lively discussion followed a presentation by Andrew Jensen, the governor’s policy advisor, on Dunleavy’s proposal to transition the Alaska Division of Agriculture into a state Department of Agriculture. The move aims to streamline the state’s approach to agriculture.
Currently, agriculture is one of seven divisions within the Department of Natural Resources, along with forestry and oil and gas.
Milk donated by Delta Junction-based farm, Alaska Range Dairy, was available at the refreshments table
“Food production should not compete with oil production,” Jensen said. A department gives an issue greater visibility in state government and better chances of receiving funding. Departments have a direct line to the governor and don’t directly compete with non-agricultural interests.
Dunleavy’s executive order issued in January will authorize the new department on July 1 unless voted down by legislators on March 21.
Ruby Hollembaek, co-owner of Alaska Interior Game Ranch with her husband, Scott, is a proponent of “reinstating a department,” as she puts it. She reminded the room that Alaska had a Department of Agriculture until the early 1960s when it was turned into a division under the Department of Natural Resources. During lunch, she passed out flyers promoting the move to create a department.
Later in the day, Glenna Gannon, assistant professor of sustainable food systems at UAF’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, discussed her ongoing vegetable variety trials. These trials are designed to determine which vegetable varieties grow best in various regions of the state.
The crowd listens to researcher Glenna Gannon talk about vegetable variety trials
Ongoing trials allow for Gannon to provide new recommendations to farmers and gardeners when varieties that traditionally have done well here are no longer commercially available or no longer thrive in Alaska’s changing environment.
Gannon trials varieties of many different types of vegetables, including carrots, beets, bush beans and squash, one of her favorites.
“I love squash,” Gannon said. “It comes in its own package, it stores really well, and it’s nutrient-dense.”
Every conversation with a farmer highlights a new challenge of growing food in Alaska, including difficult logistics due to the distance between farms and markets.
To emphasize how spread out the population is (and the value people place on attending events like this), the organizers’ survey asked how far away people came to attend — more or less than 50 miles.
Despite the challenges — and the long drives — farmers are passionate about their work. They are also inspiring the next generation; Alaska has more new farmers than any other state, according to USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, and the FFA members in attendance all had plans to become farmers.
