EPISODE III: THE BREADBASKET
“There’s so much potential for agriculture here, but there’s so little agriculture.”
EPISODE NOTES
When I think of Alaska, I think of wilderness. Probably like most people. Snow-capped peaks, rugged glaciated landscapes, boreal forests. I don’t think of the open cropland of my Midwestern roots.
The forest that surrounds my cabin feels untouched and wild. But in reality, somebody probably homesteaded here 100 years ago. Alaska is full of wilderness, but there’s also a long history of cultivation.
I’m always surprised when parts of the state transport me to that Midwestern landscape of my youth. I’ve seen hay bales in open pasture. Flat fields of cover crops, tilled soil and irrigation equipment. Cattle roaming and munching on grass.
Smoke from a wildfire rises in the distance above Mugrage Hay & Cattle. The farm and ranch is located in Delta Junction, Alaska. (Erin McKinstry / July 2019)
There are places where wind whips through fields of barley. Like the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, which opened more than a century ago. Its 260-acres are a lab for the grand experiment of Alaskan agriculture.
“It looks like a farm. It changes as the season goes. We cut hay, we harvest the grain. The fields change. It’s just like any other farm,” farm manager Alan Tonne says.
Farm manager Alan Tonne and University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher and professor Mingchu Zhang discuss cover crop trials at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm. The Farm opened in 1906 to test crops suitable for Alaska. (Erin McKinstry / June 2019)
He and University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Mingchu Zhang take me through a field of crops in various stages of growth. We see barley, wheat, sunflowers, canola. They’re the kinds of crops that are usually associated with the industrial agriculture of the lower 48, not so much Alaska.
Mingchu points to a stand of short stalks. Some are still green, but in June, others are already turning brown.
"Here is the trial to select hard, red spring wheat that [is] suitable for Alaska,” he says.
A few Alaska farmers grow wheat on a small scale, but it’s tricky. Mingchu’s working with a breeder to develop a variety that can be grown on a large-scale during Alaska’s short season and that meets quality standards. Grain growing is of particular interest to those looking to increase Alaska’s food security, he says. Because, you can’t live on just Alaska-grown potatoes.
“If you want to eat the potato every day…that would be the easy solution,” he said. “But [it] may not be good health, especially for children. Children need proteins. [It’s] also hard to use the potato to feed the animals.”
In contrast grains can be milled for flour and baking. You can provide essential proteins and feed animals.
Professor and researcher Mingchu Zhang stops for a photo at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm. He does everything from soil testing to teaching classes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to fertilizer recommendations for peony farms. (Erin McKinstry / June 2019)
So far on season two, we’ve talked with people who are farming on a pretty small scale. Their operations are diversified, and they’re not looking to export their produce outside of their region.
But that’s not the whole story of Alaskan agriculture. The state has more land and a lower population density than any other. Dreams to clear swaths of it, feed the state and export crops have come and gone over the years. On episode three, The Breadbasket, we’ll hear more about the history of those ambitions, the obstacles they’ve faced and what climate change could mean for their future.
Cattle congregate in a field at Scott Mugrage’s farm and ranch in Delta Junction. He and his son keep between 650 and 850 head of cattle and farm around 2300 acres. (Erin McKinstry / July 2019)
Then, we’ll meet a cattle rancher and farmer who’s doing his best to keep that dream alive.
"My goal’s not to be the biggest cattle producer in the state of Alaska. My goal is to change the way Alaska views agriculture,” Scott Mugrage of Mugrage Hay & Cattle says. “And make people more aware of its existence and its quality.”
Listen to the episode to hear more, and head here to see more photos.
Farmer and rancher Scott Mugrage looks out at one of his fields. He and his son farm 2300 acres. (Erin McKinstry / July 2019)
Music: All the World is All of Us by Sam McKinstry / Lament of the Old Sourdough by Sam Dunham, sung by Paul Roseland (sourced from the Library of Congress) / Building the Sled & Glinting Giant by Blue Dot Sessions / Featuring: Alan Tonne & Mingchu Zhang of the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, Scott & Justin Mugrage of Mugrage Hay & Cattle / Background information from Phil Kaspari, Agriculture Agent at Cooperative Extension in Delta Junction & articles & videos, including: Sustainable Agriculture for Alaska and the Circumpolar North: Part I: Development & Status of Northern Agriculture & Food Security, Alaska’s State-Funded Agricultural Projects and Policy - Have They Been a Success?, Bison Depredation on Grain Fields in Interior Alaska, Why Do We Farm in Alaska?, Farming in the 49th, The Alaska Review, Homesteading in Alaska/Matanuska Dairy, Fireside Chat 8, On Farmers & Laborers / Financial Assistance from the Rasmuson Foundation / Episode Artwork from Ian Gyori