Alaskans visit UAF farms to learn about agricultural science

By Laura Weingartner

More than 250 farmers, gardeners, educators, community leaders and more toured the farm and gardens in Fairbanks on Tuesday, July 30 and in Palmer on Thursday, Aug. 1. They learned from the scientists doing important research that contributes to building a vibrant food system in Alaska.

Read on to get a glimpse of what field day participants learned about.

Jodie Anderson, IANRE director, welcomes visitors to the Palmer Research Field Day. Farmers, ranchers, gardeners, state and federal agency members, educators, students and agriculture service providers from all over the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage came to the Palmer farm to learn from UAF researchers.

Gino Graziano, invasive plants instructor, holds up little pots of yarrow, goldenrod and other native plant species that can be used to restore areas after killing bird vetch with herbicide. This method of measuring the effect of a substance, like herbicide, on living plants is called a bioassay. Graziano treated plots with three different types of herbicides to see how well they killed bird vetch and how well certain native plants would grow in the years following.

Biochar is a charcoal-like material made by burning trees, shrubs and other plants to create products that can be used to amend soils, store carbon and reduce hazardous fuels in forests. Darren McAvoy, an associate professor of Extension and a forestry specialist at Utah State University, explains how he uses the Ring of Fire kiln, which can be broken down to fit into the back of a Subaru, to turn potential fire hazards and waste products, such as beetle-killed trees into something farmers can use to improve their soil. Biochar acts like an empty sponge, increasing nutrient- and water-holding capacity. Caley Gasch, research assistant professor of soil science, explains how she is studying how biochar affects the soil on plots in Palmer, Fairbanks and Delta Junction.

Glenna Gannon, assistant professor of sustainable food systems, welcomes visitors to the vegetable variety trials greenhouse and plots. She grows all sorts of vegetables, including corn, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, carrots and more! She grows many varieties of each vegetable, evaluates how well they grow in our environment (i.e., are they cold-tolerant and bolt-resistant), and does taste tests to ensure they’re up to proper standards.

Caley Gasch explains her work growing varieties of oilseeds. She studies how camelina, canola, flax and sunflower fare in a subarctic climate and whether they would make a suitable commercial crop in Alaska. Oil can be extracted from the seeds of these plants, which can be used in cooking, skin care products or biofuels.

Theresa Isaac, the driving force behind the creation of the Community and Healing Garden, showed visitors the amazing vegetables, herbs and flowers people are growing. She explained how the garden provides community members with opportunities for hands-on practical gardening experience by providing garden plots with initial tilling, water, basic garden tools, educational classes, Cooperative Extension Service publications, and expertise, including garden planning, planting tips, soil health and pest management.

Jakir Hasan, research assistant professor of plant genetics, describes his work breeding high-yielding barley, wheat, oats, and canola varieties for Alaska farms. He also shows visitors the nursery that consists of approximately 2,100 10-foot plots of barley varieties. Dorothy O’Donnell, research technician, describes the same project to visitors in Palmer. Having plots in different regions of the state gives potential farmers a better understanding of what variety might grow best on their land.

Gino Graziano shows the results of a five-year study examining how different herbicides that kill broadleaf plants (like bird vetch or potatoes, but not grasses) persist in soil. In the spring of 2020, he sprayed three different herbicides on plots, then spent two years growing straw that was harvested and removed — some herbicide removed with it. Last year, he grew peas, and finally, he planted potato plants this spring. Some potato plants in plots where the herbicide aminopyralid was sprayed had herbicide damage. This study can help him recommend the right herbicide to farmers, gardeners and land managers.

Potato plants from Graziano's study with curled and wrinkled leaves indicative of herbicide damage.

Cover crops can provide benefits to soil health and crop production. Caley Gasch holds up a Jackhammer radish and explains how its deep taproot can break up compacted soil. When the radishes die in the fall, the roots decompose, and the pockets left behind improve water infiltration and allow cash crop roots to grow more easily the following year. She also grows camelina, phacelia (second photo), peas, oats, clover, rye and different combinations of these to see which ones do well in Alaska’s climate and evaluate how they affect soil quality. She measures this in Fairbanks and Palmer.

Cover crop plots in Palmer include the purple Super Bee Phacelia loved by pollinators.

Josh Smith planted hybrid hazelnut varieties developed in North Dakota on the UAF experiment farms in Palmer and Fairbanks and a few other locations in the summer of 2023 to test their hardiness in Alaska’s growing conditions. In Palmer, Smith explains that he planted the saplings as an “alley crop” between mixed cover crops. Full-grown hazelnuts can act as a windbreak, keeping snow on fields, which insulates the soil. Mixing hazelnuts with more traditional cash crops also allows farmers to diversify.

Meriam Karlsson (right), professor of horticulture, and Eric Cook (left), greenhouse research professional, prepare samples of bell peppers, tomatoes and microgreens they grew in the AFES West Ridge greenhouse. Participants agreed that they were much tastier than imported options! They also displayed plants grown under different colored LEDs to understand the best lights for increasing crop yield and maximizing plant growth, flowering, or fruit production in different plant species.

Lacey Higham leads a tour of the Georgeson Botanical Gardens, which were bursting with color. Highlights included the newly refurbished kiosk at the garden entrance, flume and bridge to this deck overlooking the maze and farm fields.

Plots of crops bred, developed and selected by agronomists specifically for their yields and quality for production in Alaska and northern environments are planted and maintained yearly to have fresh, high-quality seed stock on hand for potential distribution to the public. Seeds from this plot are used by agronomist Minchu Zhang and Nathan Simms, assistant on the small grains trial project. They work to select varieties of wheat, barley, canola, oats, and sunflowers for Alaska’s climate. Simms walked visitors through the 80 varieties planted, explaining what they are looking for in each crop type.