Alan Tonne recognized for 35 years at UAF

Alan Tonne stands in the  Fairbanks Experiment Farm weather
station. He records weather data daily. UAF photo by J.R. Ancheta

Alan Tonne grew up working on the family wheat and cattle farm near Fort Benton, Montana, and the Missouri River. Chores included feeding livestock and driving farm trucks from the age of 12 or 13.

Tonne headed to Alaska in the spring of 1982, planning to work as a carpenter or in construction. “My goal was not to be involved in agriculture,” he said.

Despite this determination, he accepted a job for the state’s Agriculture Action Council, measuring and assessing farmland in Delta Junction. Then he was recruited in 1984 to work as a field technician for the Delta Research Site, which is operated by the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES).

One thing led to another and UAF recognized Alan Tonne last week for having worked for AFES for 35 years.

 “It’s one of those things that just kind of happened,” he said.

Tonne became the farm manager for the Fairbanks Experiment Farm in 2006. He is the contact person for scientists hoping to conduct research there and he oversees the farm’s operations with a small crew. He handles a variety of other duties, including snow plowing, vehicle and equipment maintenance, harvesting hay, etc. He also records daily weather data that has been collected at the farm since 1911, including maximum and minimum temperatures, evaporation, precipitation, snow depth and wind volume.

This spring, because of pandemic restrictions, he will plant crops grown in the grain variety trials and grasses grown for cover crops research.

Over the years, work evolved, depending on the animals at the farm and the research. One winter, he fabricated aluminum frames that were part of an experiment to evaluate the effect of global warming on crops. Researchers pumped carbon dioxide into the covered frames to see what effect that had on the crops.

Milan Shipka, the director of the AFES, said, “Alan is a good problem solver. He looks at things and even when there is a problem, he works to find solutions to try to benefit everyone. Being farm manager has meant that he was always in the forefront, not always an easy place to be, but he has been great to work with.”

After living in the farmhouse at the experiment farm for 14 years, Tonne moved out this spring, the first step toward retirement, which is still probably a couple of years off.

He imagines that his retirement will involve more hunting and fishing, and no farming.

“I would really be difficult for me to leave Alaska,” he says.

Tonne was one of three UAF employees recently recognized for 35 years of service. The others were Debbie Davis Ice of the Geophysical Institute and Kari Marks at the Rasmuson Library. Another library worker, Marie Johnson, was recognized for 40 years.