SNRAS agriculture partner faces closure

Proposed federal funding cuts would close the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service in Alaska, causing a severe blow to Alaska agriculture. SRNAS is closely affiliated with ARS.

If Congress approves the proposal it means 24 jobs would be eliminated, as well as several positions for graduate students. The proposal calls for cutting $42 million to ARS; ten sites have been targeted for closure, with Alaska being one of them.

Known as the Subarctic Agricultural Research Unit, the Alaska ARS has made much progress in understanding and developing management strategies to minimize negative impacts of invasive weeds and to prevent introductions of invasive plants on state and federal land as well as agricultural fields in Alaska. Because of large outbreaks of grasshoppers in both agricultural fields and natural rangelands in Alaska in the 1980s and 1990s and more recently, grass bug infestation of Alaska’s largest crop, forage grasses, work was begun by SARU in 1999 to better understand the life cycles, population dynamics, and nutrition of these insects in Alaska. This work has led to better understanding of how food sources, climate change, and other factors affect these insects and has led to recommendations for management of their populations in Alaska.

The Arctic and Subarctic Plant Gene Bank in Palmer is managed by ARS and is the nation’s primary repository for peonies, rhubarb, currants, mints, and several arctic and subarctic species used for land reclamation. While some of this material could be transferred to other locations in the U.S., many of these plants are especially well-suited for the Palmer environment. Thus, loss of the Arctic and Subarctic Plant Gene Bank would result in severe detriment to these plant collections.

The ARS Aquaculture Group in Kodiak studies ways to add value to seafood by-products (such as waste fish oil, fish viscera, bone, skins, and the like). Scientists there, working collaboratively with other scientists in and outside of Alaska, have discovered ways to use fish wastes as valuable soil amendments and to convert what were once considered waste products into valuable specialty foods.

The Agricultural Research Service in Alaska works very closely with scientists at both UAF and UAA. For example, most food consumed in Alaska is currently imported, making Alaska particularly vulnerable to disruptions in food supply. ARS scientists work closely with university scientists to study ways to better manage potatoes, grains, vegetables, and other food crops to allow enhanced production of food in Alaska. Much of the accomplishments in agricultural research would not have been possible without this collaborative effort. SNRAS researchers have consciously tried to complement but not duplicate expertise already in ARS in Alaska. Thus, the University of Alaska does not have any weed scientists or agricultural entomologists, both critical disciplines for Alaska.

Anyone who would like to see ARS remain in Alaska may contact their legislators in Washington, D.C.