Alaska Ag: Cronyism 1, the rest of us......0

I'd like to say that it was a savant, a clairvoyant, a seer...but it was not. It was a very dear friend, an astute observer of Alaska Ag that told this author last fall:

"The fix is in, Ag is done"

And I thought....surely that cannot be?  

No, not when there are literally hundreds of people just getting started with growing food here, not when there are many thousands of back yard gardens, greenhouses, and plant stands with lights in Alaska homes, right?  

Alas, yes, it is true.

Follow along, and you will sadly agree:

Everyone has their own version of what Alaska agricultural history is, so I won't re-plow spent soils there....other than to note that the ARLF (which predates Statehood) is overseen by the Board of Agriculture and Conservation.  "Agriculture and Conservation" has such a lovely ring, doesn't it? An image of a tidy field of row crops springs to mind, or perhaps crates full of produce, or maybe just a farmer on a tractor-coupled that warm feeling of saving something. It's a great marketing and sales tactic, selecting just the right words. Any political campaigner will tell you the same.  Their motto is: 

"Promote and encourage development of an agriculture industry."

Among the seats on that board, sits not one small producer. No, they represent, to a man, the commercial side of agriculture. Small "ag", as I like to think of it....is absent. Small ag is the homestead producer, the smaller operations who might send a handful of critters to MMM&S perhaps, or whose back breaking labor gifts them with a few weekends of produce at a farmers market. 

The same holds true for the ARLF board, sadly enough. The big guys with the big tractors only. It's an exclusive club, and membership depends a great deal on the whims of the board. Their motto is: "Financing the Future"

Then there is the Alaska Farm Bureau, who paid for an industry report on MMM&S, and it's great. They also formed what they call a "Steering Committee" to explore privatization of the plant.  Here again, you will not find one small producer, nary a one. Although several of the committee members were on the FB group, no homesteaders, backyarders, or small business are welcome at the table for the farm bureau steering committee. Their motto is: Farm Gate to the World

Of course, there are all the federal programs, many of them with ample public monies for projects. However, they do come with a number of conditions, and many Alaskans find those to be intrusive and onerous and they'd rather "go local" than not. So instead of a recap of the feds, suffice to say: It's there if you qualify.

Now you may be wondering where that cronyism might fit into the pieces listed above. Cronyism runs through Alaska ag, from it's founding with the Colony project, through the boondoggles of the mightily mismanaged projects of the 80s, the bankruptcies (and how did a $12 an hour employee of the failed creamery manage to acquire all those lovely cows, whose transport alone was in the many thousands?) and on through today. 

If a person were to check through the available records, a person would note that several names recur frequently. It is a complex tapestry of friendships, family, marriages, animosity and enemies. These days, if you don't have skin in the game, you're....well, nothing.  You have to attend the meetings, schmooze the mighty, befriend the suspicious, and acquiesce to the anointed.  And if you can't figure out who that is, well then...no money for you! The seats of power in Alaska Ag are those occupied by the boards listed above, with a complicit slate of Directors of the Division of Agriculture, coupled with essentially zero oversight from the legislature. In short, they do as they please, loan to who they please, and include who they please. Period.  It does not change because they do not allow change, because it has always been done this way. This is why outsiders are not welcome, newcomers are not welcome, small producers are not welcome.  Cronyism at its finest, right here in the Valley. 

A quote attributed to the La Famiglia, the Mafia sums this up nicely:   

You can be rich without knowing how to be powerful, but you cannot be powerful without being rich

And lest you think I am blowing smoke....how is it that a bankrupt farmer or two, got new loans for new ventures? And managed to go broke again? How is it, that the "ag lease" lands, are bought, chopped up, and resold for speculation so easily? Why is it that so many long time farmers, have given up and abandoned the state? Why is it that even a veterinary clinic, whose primary focus would be cattle, cannot get approved because it isn't "agriculture" enough?  Why is it that the former Director was ineffective and served as rubber stamp for the local El Capo? Why is that the only names forwarded for consideration for the new Director of the Division of Agriculture, either related to El Capo, or had strong Democratic political ties? 

And finally....why is that small ag, is not allowed a voice anywhere?

Answer: Because El Capo does not choose to accept them, their existence, and especially, their concerns, ideas, and new ways of doing things. 

Alaska Ag: Prop 90 response link

Here is the link to the comment form:

ADFG Board Comments

Make sure you click the drop down for the correct meeting, which is Board of Game on March 5th.

Please remember to be polite, and succinct, in your written message to the Board. 

A form letter in this case, just won't do. Also please consider contacting your state representative, as soon as possible. Yes, they are in session, but submitting your comments gets your voice "on the record", which is important. 

Alaska Ag: The Prop 90 assault

2016 is not shaping up to be any kinder to Alaska Agriculture than 2015 was. 

The selection process for the new Director of the Division of Agriculture, is nearly complete. Two names are slated to be forwarded to the Commissioner of DNR.   One has Alaska experience, and the other has political ties.  Arthur Keyes is the son in law of Ben VanderWeele, who sits on the BAC, and is the Palmer power broker when it comes to the ARLF.  Young Mr. Knowles...is, well you guessed it-a Knowles. 'Nuff said. Has less direct Alaska farming experience than yours truly, but of course, yours truly does not have the correct genitalia for consideration. 

So whichever of these two is selected for this plum, no one expects significant change. Yes, the MMM&S issue will no doubt be resolved in the state's favor-and that's a good thing. But when even state employees cannot be truthful to inquiries about board vacancies...expect the same cronyism that has plagued Alaska Ag since day one. One thing we can grow very well here, is that.

As to other assaults on the future of Ag, there is an item that recently came to attention. received via email, and I urge you consider carefully the ramifications:

Proposal to remove sheep and goats from the "clean list"

Our local hunters, via the Alaska Wild Sheep Foundation, is placing before the Board of Game, a proposal to take local Alaskan sheep and goats off the clean list. What does this actually mean? Well, it's one of those feel good notions with huge unexpected consequences.  Because there is an outbreak of (unspecified) disease in Big Horn sheep in the L48, the hunters up here want to prevent that. Sounds great, right? Except that they want  EVERY Alaskan who owns one or both, obtain a *permit* (forms, with fees no doubt) within one year of implementation-and yes that means every single backyard doe, ram, wether. They must also be contained within a Department approved facility (Money for inspections) that are at least double fenced-which equals a substantial amount of money for every hobbyist and rancher in the State of Alaska. Completely throwing out the current disease monitoring which is conducted by the State already...and the hard work and sacrifice of dozens of small livestock producers to maintain and test their entire herds year after year. 

But the most crucial, and overlooked component is this: That any person with possession of said animals *within 15 air miles Dall sheep habitat* must comply with the above rules.

Have you taken a good look at a map of Southcentral Alaska recently? Please note that it doesn't say "known range" or "current range" or even known habitat-that is, where a person might typically find them. Nope, just habitat. That would include nearly all of the Anchorage Borough, and a very big swath of the Mat Su Valley as well.  This proposal will likely get a serious look, and may even pass because people in the livestock community are completely unaware. Won't they be surprised when they discover that they live within that 15 mile boundary...and must rebuild their fences, buy a permit and pay for inspections? And suffer the unspecified consequences if they do not comply?

Because those female Dall sheep do bring their babies down to the lower meadows to forage in the summer months. I know this for a fact as I used to see them as a child growing up in the Interior-right through the kitchen window with Dad's telescope.  I've been told the same can be found in the Hatcher Pass and Chugach range area too.  Even if the "habitat" is restricted to the treeline and above...the impact area will be enormous. Hello, Municipality of Anchorage! Eagle River, Girdwood, Chugiak, Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, and on into the Interior as well. Every community and homestead between Palmer and beyond the Matanuska Glacier will fall under this proposal as well. 

The next Board of Game meeting is in March. 

You can find the Alaska Board of Game website here: Board of Game  

On the list of action items in the white box, click the link for the 2016 Proposal Book. 

Once that page loads, click the link to the innocuous "miscellaneous permits". 

Scroll down a few pages and read 90 carefully. 

This is not the time to blow it off, it is the time to get involved. I do not have goats or sheep, but I will be making what effort I can to squash this right away. I encourage others to do the same, because sheep and goats raised locally are an integral part of Alaska's food security. 

Alaska Ag: As ye sow, so shall ye reap

In times of great distress, this nation has risen as one, and put forth incredible effort to sustain the Republic. I do wish I had as much confidence in Alaska...as the times of great distress are on the horizon for all to see.

Over the weekend, there appeared on the Facebook group "Alaskans Working to Keep MMM&S Open"  (link here: Alaskans Working to keep MMM&S Open)  several photographs, posted by member Jeff Werner on the 14th. They show the nearly empty meat sections of a Fairbanks grocery. 

It brought back memories I have, of the same sight, back in the 60s and 70s.  Others who grew up in the Interior that I have spoken to, have similar memories. For this (partly) Bush kid, driving into town for groceries every four months was a highlight-and finding shelves empty of cereal meant months of oatmeal and pancakes to come, for example. Several times, my mother was forced back to the car, to re-work her meal plans, painstakingly detailed on a spare yearly calendar. Back then, this was due to literally losing barges at sea, in the era before the large computer controlled container ships became regular with arrivals at Alaska ports. It was soon posted that a total of 5 ship loads did not arrive during the holiday period, and that other stores showed empty shelves and display cases as well-if not as stark as the ones posted by Mr. Werner.  This should be a wake up call to all. We each have a stake in Alaska Ag, whether one single bite of Alaskan grown beef, pork, sheep, goat or poultry ever crosses your lips. 

Because it will be the local producer you will turn to, when (not if!) the container ships ever stop docking in Anchorage. And how can they help improve our food security issue, if MMM&S closes?Answer: They can not. MMM&S is just one critical element of food production within the state. Other challenges remain substantial. 

They will not have the herds, nor the grazing lands, nor the grain production either. This is due in no small part to policy, and not because Alaskans do not want to do this, make no mistake. 

When farm lands sit fallow because they are artificially priced at subdivision rates; 

when new lands are not available from any source at less than "full market value" as determined by degree carrying state assessors whose job it is to maximize value over utility; 

when no monies are available for the small farm/homestead for improvements; 

when the Boroughs tax such improvements at "full market value" instead of farmstead; 

when there is but one source for insurance for any farm endeavor, regardless of size; 

when over all state policy favors residential development over feeding its citizens; 

when new farmers and new methods are not welcomed by the "good old boys" of Alaska Ag; 

when the message is clear that support is welcome but new help and ideas are not;

when unnecessary regulations hamper small milk producers; 

when a new farmer must fight for every step forward against a juggernaut of regulation, statute, law;

when value added ventures are stymied by the above;

Unless and until these issues (and others) are addressed in practical fashion by all the bureaucrats in charge-including the new director of the Division of Ag-Alaska's ability to feed itself will be hamstrung as always, and remain the bastard step child of resource development. 

And they will not be able to fill the void, never mind the hungry. 

Fed up with Alaska Ag

It takes quite a lot for this patient, persistent person to reach the limits of a basic good nature.

I am so fed up with what passes for Ag in this state, I cannot describe fully my disgust, my anger, my outrage.  This latest fiasco concerning Mt. McKinley Meat & Sausage is just the last in a long line of stupidly partisan, behind the scenes bullshit that plagues this state.

When I poke at folks, when I attempt to shine a little public sunshine on very dirty doings, it is for good reason. That plant is *our* asset. It belongs to us all. Whether a bite of Alaskan grown meat ever crosses your lips, is beside the point.....it is crucial to Alaskans, and (your) food security.

I do not raise cattle. Or elk. Or yak. Or reindeer. Or pigs. I have no vested interest, other than it matters to me, that Alaskans are able to produce table ready (and stamped by the USDA) meat. I have, for many years, been adamant that Alaskans be given every advantage when it comes to food production of any type. That my friends, the farmer, the rancher, the restaurant owner, and the end consumer can continue to do this, because I am steadfast in my belief that Alaska can, and should, work to feed it's own citizens.

So when I am told, by numerous means, to sit down and shut up, I get upset. When I am told, you cannot mention this; because that information is private, that I cannot speak of the many behind the scenes factions work for and against this plant......well, there is right. And there is wrong.

Quashing speech, quashing rumor, quashing discussion leaves us all right where we are. How do you think the plant ended up where it is today? By the same players saying the same shit, year after year.

Shh! Don't make waves! Sit down, be quiet, no one needs to know! You have no relevance to any of it because you weren't born into a Colony family (or married to one), you didn't arrive before statehood, you don't know these people and how they retaliate!  

Oh. My. Gosh. Really?  This is how the problems surrounding the plant are going to be resolved? By back room agreements, handshakes, and intimidation? Or worse, a continuing status quo?

Pfft on that, I say!

As is oft quoted: If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Never more bitterly true than the varied players and beneficiaries of nepotism in Alaska Ag!

Alaska Ag: too many sides

In thinking through what has been said and discussed on social media, what has made it through editing for news reports, and what can be gleaned from other sources....one conclusion stands above the rest when it comes to Alaska Ag, and MMM&S in particular:

There are many players.

Definitely as many as there are organizations, policy makers, movers and shakers, and interested parties. Breaking it down roughly, we find these major angles:

 1. Farmers with ARLF loans who are footing the bill. Since day one, they have accepted loss after loss after loss, due to mismanagement, or market forces, or whatever. They are the ones shouldering the entire loss, in the form of the interest they pay on their loans. (While this makes a great point, that MMM&S does not cost the State of Alaska a dime, it does not address the burden on the roughly 90 farmers who are forced to pay for those losses)

2. Farmers/producers who are attempting to get something done from the inside-that is, the system itself.  These are the folks who sit on boards and committees of various organizations, who know the issue very well.

3. The discontented ignorant, who want to slash all funding for Ag, period, whatever the fallout. On this side are some politicians-and I call them ignorant because they do not seem to know #1 above.

4. The up in arms, small producers/consumers who are just becoming really aware. They see the USDA plant as *necessary*, and not just to their livelihood. They are not welcomed by sides 1, 2, or 3.

5. Concerned newbies. They may not understand why closing the plant is bad idea, but they know that any facet of agriculture that is shuttered, is bad for everyone. They are new to Alaska, have no idea who the movers and shakers and policy makers are, and have no hope of obtaining funding from any local source. (Even though that would spread the burden among more borrowers)

6. The politician/policy maker who knows the facts, and chooses to use the plant as a political football to score points. They make policy by sound bite, have no time or inclination to listen to remedies unless it comes through "the process", and in this time of fiscal disaster, know they must appear to be budget hawks where it doesn't matter. That would be Ag, of course. 

7. The side that tried to pull together to work up a solution that will keep the USDA certification and the plant up and running. They don't want anyone else mucking around, and all the rest of the Johnny-Come-Lately folks should just get out of the way. They know what they're doing, convinced their plans and ideas are better than....well, everybody else.

8. The group(s) that liken themselves to *the* policy makers, who want to work in conjunction with whatever crumbs the State allows, and whatever the "stakeholders" will agree with. They too, have no ear for the humble, small producer/grower, since their focus is industry.

9. And finally....the many smaller growers/producers who have no idea what is happening with the USDA plant known as MMM&S. These folks are too busy working hard to pay attention to the many players, the organization memberships and their boring meetings, the myriad of programs and their administrators. Too busy actually.....farming, to worry about what they know they cannot change.

Who has been overlooked in the list above?

Why, everyone else who consumes food within the State of Alaska, that's who. Because while the majority surely do not consume locally produced meats or vegetables today, they will be relying on every single producer, should some interruption of Alaska food supply occur.  This all circles back around food security......something many have forgotten in the divisive nature of the discussion surrounding the closing of one single USDA certified plant in Palmer, Alaska.

• 
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

The bigger picture.....Alaska Ag

Or perhaps this should be titled:

                              Alaska Ag.....past, present, and future? 

To understand what is happening now, one needs to examine what occurred in the past. And to grasp the realities of the future, one only needs to look at any other isolated population around the world....democratic republic or not.


In short, Alaska had nothing but huge farming potential from the arrival of settlers who understood the possibilities of our unique growing conditions. With our midnight suns and volcanic-ally blessed soils....it was ripe (pardon the pun) for use. And use they did, from the first dream seekers to land upon Cook Inlet shores, to the trainloads of Midwestern immigrants in the 30s, to fortune chasers of the 70 and 80s, and so on to the exploding growth in local food and population we have today. 

By the time of statehood, the farming community in South Central was well established. A certain number of families had, over the preceding decades, made a niche for their product, intermarried, consolidated, founded businesses, and eyed the incoming newcomers with some suspicion. Even today, if you don't have ties that predate Statehood, you have....shall we say...no seat at the table.

Then came the oil boom, which leads us today. The oil boom brought riches to many, and that included farmers who sold off lands for retirement, and gave birth to the three huge boondoggles that will forever blacken the eye of Alaska Ag: The Delta Barley Project (with the grain terminal in Seward),  Pt. MacKenzie Agriculture Project, and the Matanuska Maid Dairy collapse. The fourth disaster is the closing of MMM&S.

So this will leave us with a bleak future.  No cattle, no dairy, no grain, no hay, no large scale dairy plant, no USDA certified processing facility. And most lands cut up into subdivisions, peopled with the remnants of the American dream (Alaska version).

Oh there will be vegetables, yes of course. But even so, with no state support, no advertising campaign, and a relatively blind consumer base, it will struggle along at the less than 5% of foods consumed for the foreseeable future.

And one has to wonder:

Why?  Why, with the blessings this state has, will there be no way for the state to feed itself?  Why are there no new hay fields to replace those lost to development and government seizure?  Why has dairy not been allowed to flourish here, since Mat Maid closed?  Why are there no cattle herds? Why are there no dairy herds? Why will there be no state controlled USDA plant in South Central? And more importantly.....who are the players these conditions benefit?

As was said in a previous entry, and worth repeating again:

Who will feed your family, when the proverbial fat lady sings and Ag is dead?