Alaska Ag.....The DOA Mission Management

No conversation about Alaska Ag is ever complete, without touching upon the influence and performance of the DOA. 

If you recall, their mission statement is:

"The mission of the Division of Agriculture is to promote and encourage the development of an agriculture industry in the State"

Readers might find this link very interesting:

Ballotpedia entry: Alaska Director of Agriculture

Please note the Duties, as described. Now consider their mission statement above. Yes, just a little drift there *cough cough*.

We have seen numerous examples of how that promotion and encouragement is applied to those who have either kissed the ring of the Dear Director(s), enjoy the perks of the CBC of Ag, or kneel in front of the BAC, in supplication and no doubt a fair amount of trepidation.

For promoting agriculture, they have Farm to School, the producer's directory, and every photo opportunity Dear Director can manage. Management of the AlaskaGrown program has taken somewhat of a different path forward, in that much of their interactions with the people they serve has been limited to membership only social pages. The so-called marketing department manages to get Alaska farming into the news media, but seemingly only produce over protein the majority of time. As stated in the comments here, the AlaskaGrown program is rapidly losing whatever marketing advantage it had, due to lack of compliance enforcement. A tissue paper tiger, indeed.  This ineffective agency is the primary reason there exist so many other, effective and innovative groups, happily promoting agriculture in all ways. From think tanks to seed banks, social media pages to garden tours to food hubs, and everything in between....and it's all in spite of the DOA, and their limited assistance.

Yet they (DOA) do seem to devote quite a bit of their resources to denying FOIA requests, taking junkets for photo ops, starting programs done by other state agencies and employees (after specifically being told not to do so, btw) and abusing their access to limitless legal resources, among other extraneous activities.

There remains this pervasive fixation on "industry" over innovation, experimentation, new ideas, new methods, and new definitions of 'agriculture'.  Instead of serving as a creche for new farms and ranches and producers who are small, daring, and different, the DOA primarily serves as a "good old boys" club, whose roots stretch back before statehood, and whose reach extends into many MatSu royalty families.

There is also a blatant bias against ranches and livestock producers, and most folks on the Kenai or Interior would tell you that they might as well not exist, for all the "promote and encourage" they get from DOA.  The independent spirit that dominates the Alaskan culture, persists today in many areas, and agriculture is no exception. This is just a fact, most Alaskans want nothing to do with government. Therefore, their reliance and participation in anything the DOA does less than zero. They're of the "don't need them, don't want them, go away" mindset, and considering the poor reputation of the DOA, coupled with specious lending at the BAC, it's not surprising.  Is the State getting its money's worth there? Of course not.

When one hears the words "under the creative and innovative leadership of Director Keyes", one can be positive it was not uttered by the public. No indeed, that's a quote from a local ag recording, from a DOA employee, naturally.  There has been nothing new under the sun in Alaska Agriculture since he took office.....unless the numerous photo ops count?  Or perhaps the threats and screaming fits? Or the insistence on using state's legal resources at will, over a matter that turned to be false? Or perhaps the (rumored!) fancy schmancy new lock on the Director's door? Or the disregard of outright orders, pursuing programs the state already performs? Or the flip flopping over FSMA?  Or the legislative bill to begin charging for the use of the AlaskaGrown materials?

Or this development:  It seems Dear "creative and innovative" Director managed to sell Greg G a nice, attractive bill of goods on MMM&S. To wit: That the "direct to slaughter" permit (which the DOA acquired while still in state hands. aka as Dear Director's action, er, bait) was "grandfathered" to the new owner.  This is not true, and every such head of cattle imported and slaughtered since the sale closed was done so without a valid permit.  It's rumored that the plant is shuttered as of today, as the USDA decides what to do about the illegal operation(s) there.

A person wouldn't call any of that "creative and innovative", not any reasonable person with an IQ above.....potato.

(The PMC-Plant Materials Center-was not mentioned here primarily because it does produce readily quantifiable results. Are there issues there? Naturally. But their work is of value to many Alaskan residents-whether they realize it or not)