Research Highlight: Developing a red meat industry

Erin Carr examines reindeer carcasses in the mobile processing unit in Savoonga,
where the reindeer program was working on field slaughter protocols.

The Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has looked at the best combinations of feed and forage, range management and how the reindeer diet and slaughter methods affect the quality of meat.

Program manager Greg Finstad said that reindeer research over the past 35 years has focused on helping develop a local red meat industry.

“It’s producer-driven research,” he said.

Finstad believes that reindeer production could help address Alaska’s food insecurity and provide an economic boost to tribal entities that sell the meat.

Read more about Finstad's research in a Spring 2018 Agroborealis Research Highlight. Agroborealis is the research publication of the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the School of Natural Resources and Extension. Downloadable Highlights are published online twice yearly at www.uaf.edu/snre/agroborealis.

Links to the stories will be emailed when they are posted on this site. If you’d like to be added to the email list, please subscribe here.