Alaska Ag......The USDA stamp shakeout

(The USDA "stamp" is a euphemism for acquiring all the approvals and following all protocols necessary-including inspection-to sell cuts of meat to retail and commercial customers. This differs from custom exempt, whereby the consumer purchases a live animal and butchers themselves for their own use)

In the muddled mess that is meat production in Alaska, nothing exemplifies the pitfalls as well as the history of MMM&S.

Long on the books as an asset of the BAC, and managed by the DOA, it constantly lost money, except for one year when they sold a load of hides. Under the auspices of the DOA, the plant deteriorated and the business conducted there was.....marginal for some producers. When the calls arose for privatization several years back, the BAC was forced to put it up for bid. This caused some fractions within the farming community, and the BAC (wearing their CBC of Ag hats for all to see), accepted a bid well below appraised value.

Last week, the plant was formally handed over to the new owner.  There's no assurance of success (the plant has failed in private hands before, necessitating State intervention to keep this crucial asset functioning) but there is hope that having a producer in charge of operations will succeed where others have not. Volumes have been written about the inefficiencies of government to run business, so there is no need to repeat what is well known. However, the new owner is investing in our community by making improvements, performing needed upgrades, and so on. This allows the small producers some small measure of optimism for the future.....except that:

The new owner has applied and received a direct to slaughter import permit. This allows the new management to import cattle from Canada, direct to the plant in Palmer. They have 14 days from arrival to process those cattle, who most assuredly are not Alaska grown, raised, or pastured. Just how this will effect scheduling at the plant for the community, remains to be seen.

Two weeks ago, another USDA stamp processing facility began operations. The BAC and the DOA management are directly responsible for its creation. (The long, sordid story of how the BAC turned down a near-asking price from this new facility owner is again, the CBC of Alaska Ag picking winners and losers in the tiny club that is Alaska agriculture.)  This new facility is not open to the public, will be processing both local and imported cattle and hogs, and is pursuing specific markets.  Whether they open to other producers in the future remains to be seen-but here again, there is a proven professional businessman at the helm. The majority of cattle processed here will be what might be called "Alaska Finished", that is, the cattle spending several months at Pt MacKenzie before processing.

Also reportedly in the works, yet another USDA facility for processing. This one supposedly involves the Denali Meats principals. Having the sole processing plant for Southcentral in the hands of a direct competitor was likely more risk than they felt ready to assume-and thus, their remedy was another plant. It is unknown if this facility would process for the public, but considering the rumored location, it is unlikely.

The water is already muddled when it comes to market branding, and the direct-to-slaughter import matter further roils the situation. The "Alaska Grown" program has specific conditions, but there is no enforcement if a consumer is somehow lead astray with advertising. There have already been several incidents where meats were marketed wrongly-with no penalty for the CBC of Alaska Ag players.

In the end, the decisions and actions of the CBC of Alaska Ag, have served to accidentally spur the growth of the protein sector, not stifle competition for MMM&S.

It's a sector long overlooked in the patchwork of improving Alaska food security.