Alaska Ag.....it stinks in Palmer

It reeks over in Palmer. And no, I don't mean in the sense of "liquified manure spread over fields" stench, not one bit.  I'll leave the reader to conclude for themselves this time.

In revisiting the topic of the MMM processing plant (Mt. McKinley Meats, for new readers) I touched upon its poor performance history, financially and operationally, in a previous blog entry. To understand the true nature of how twisted the ties are between dairy and beef here in the Valley, a person must learn about "Dairygate" in depth. The players, the money, the years....nothing much changes except the hats. For those who prefer to have things laid out with more coherence, I offer these older blogs and articles, written by locals who watched the misdeeds and malfeasance from afar.

1. A timeline of the entire Dairygate fiasco, nicely laid out. H/T to the author:

     http://themoderatevoice.com/22681/sarah-palin-and-the-full-dairygate-timeline/

2. Although aimed directly at former Gov. Sarah Palin, this blog fills out a few more details surrounding the debacle:

     http://palingates.blogspot.com/2010/03/sarah-palins-dairygate-more-pieces-in.html

Do please note that is a lot of money. Vanished, poof, gone. Alaska money, spent by the Division of Agriculture, and plumped up by grants from the State itself.  Also, I encourage you to read the comments listed below the second link above. There, you will see just how extensive the questionable behavior is, between many well known Alaskan farmers.  

However, the greatest follower of Dairygate, remains Andrew Halcro. Love him or hate him, he is a persistent, epic blogger, whose entries about this subject are fine reading indeed. Here is a piece written by Mr. Halcro, regarding the creamery...forever intertwined with MMM:

     

     http://www.adn.com/article/matanuska-creamery-finances-under-investigation-fbi

In the end, it has mattered naught. Not the padded loans for buddies, the real estate deals, the mysterious disappearance of equipment (twice), the unpaid loans, the unqualified administrators, none of it. Even a story published by KTUU will make no difference whatsoever:

     http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/prisonrun-slaughterhouse-faces-budget-ax-livestock-growers-rally/35842184

So from the above links a logical person can conclude, that the only people "making it" in agriculture up here, are either unqualified bureaucrats (or related to Franci Havemesiter, or both), or recipients of staggeringly large loans that are subsequently written off, without hope of pay off back to the loan fund, or those that feed upon one or the other. 

Alaska Ag is, as one local farmer put it: Last nail is in the coffin.  

If you are wondering whose hand is holding a hammer, look no further than Franci Havemesiter.