Sustainable agriculture examined in Alaska

Group discussions resulted in new ideas and new friendships.

Key players in the Alaska agricultural community gathered March 18-19 in Fairbanks to assess the sustainability of Alaska agriculture. The Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education sub-regional conference was a grassroots approach to gathering information from farmers, ranchers, scientists, and professionals in support agencies on the state of Alaska agriculture and its needs for the future, said Phil Rasmussen, coordinator of the Western SARE program. The Fairbanks visit was the last of seven outreach efforts on behalf of SARE directors and the administrative council.

“The reason SARE is different is we have the voice of the farmer and rancher at the table,” said moderator Jerry DeWitt, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

The 100 attendees at the conference addressed these questions:

• What will be needed to create stronger local and regional food systems that are less reliant on imports from elsewhere?
  
• What are the local and regional consumption and production trends in your local area?
  
• The SARE program was commissioned by Congress to get its research results to the farmer and rancher. How can this process be improved?
  
• What type of research, education, and development projects will be necessary over the next ten years to help economically sustain farming and the environment?
  
• If Western SARE received (from Congress) an additional $1 million per region, what types of projects should be targeted or emphasized?
  
• How can Western SARE overcome barriers that may prevent underserved groups, including socially disadvantaged groups, from applying for and receiving SARE funding?
  

Fairbanks farmer Mike Emers (pictured at right) of Rosie Creek Farm was one of many producers participating. “In the past ten years interest in local agriculture markets is bursting at the seams,” he said. “People are lining up to buy local food.”

To Emers sustainability means selling locally and keeping the inputs (materials brought to the farm such as compost, seeds, fertilizer) low. “We are an organic farm but we are not sustainable,” he said. “If someone asked me if farming is sustainable in this state I would say not yet.”

His four-acre farm feeds nearly 200 families during the growing season and Emers would like to see more growers doing the same. “There is a need for a training program, a mentoring program, a support system,” he said. His comments were echoed throughout the workshop by producers from Bethel, Galena, Palmer, Haines, and points beyond.

“The private sector is the backbone of agriculture,” said Carol Lewis, SNRAS dean and AFES director (pictured at left). Agriculture is changing and it’s time to reflect on its future, she said. While the land grant university system, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Agricultural Research Service have worked hard to make agriculture what it is, the state is in a precarious food position, Lewis said. “We need to embrace agriculture rather than ignore it or chastise it.”

Alaska must improve its food security, she said, suggesting that the state needs to prepare a path involving support for farms, increased processing capabilities, and a business orientation for agriculture. Educating consumers about the advantages of purchasing local foods is another priority. “It’s not all about price; it’s about health,” Lewis said.

Following the conference, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Franci Havemeister called the workshop really informative. “It’s interesting to get everybody’s perspective,” she said. She particularly noted the desire of villagers to become more sustainable.

The results and feedback from the conference will be available on the SARE website. Since its founding as a USDA program, SARE has funded a dozen grants in Alaska worth more than a half million dollars. Among the projects were:

• use of domestic geese to control weeds
• establish more efficient and biological practices for bringing forest land into agricultural use
• propagation of indigenous lingonberries
• no-till forage establishment to improve soil and water conservation and reduce associated production risks
• federally regulated tribes extension education program
• community supported gardening and food security in rural Alaska
• fruit and berry crops for rural communities
• propagation of Alaska native plants for restoration and landscape use
• weed management and soil fertility on a sub-arctic farm
  

The Alaska professional development coordinator for SARE is Michele Hebert, agriculture and horticulture agent for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service.

Photos by Ron Daines, RJ Daines & Associates, Logan, Utah

Further reading:
Alaska agriculture conference helps direct federal funds, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, by Jeff Richardson, March 21, 2010