Alaska 2018-20 PDP project

In February of 2020, we held the 15th Alaska Sustainable Agriculture Conference that hosted speakers from all over Alaska, including speakers from the lower 48.  This three day conference featured a plenary session with multiple concurrent breakout sessions. Presentations included: Overview of Western SARE Grant Programs, Alaska Farm Bureau Update, Agriculture Statistics for Alaska, Climate of Alaska, Alaska Division of Agriculture Update, Alaska Plant Materials Center Update, Update from the Alaska Food Policy Council, Alaska Farmland Trust, Alaska’s Produce Safety Program, NRCS Farm Bill Programs, USDA Farm Service Agency Update, Takeaways from Recent Alaska Soil Health Research, How Western SARE Helped Potato Farmers on the Kenai, What’s New with the Alaska Potato Program, Cover Crops in Peony and Nitrogen Release from Various Sources of Organic Inputs, Welcome and Resources for Rural Farmers, Alaska Food Security as a Long-term Vision, Getting Indoor Agriculture/Hydroponics Established in Alaska Off-Road Communities, Developing a Network of Small, Community-Based Farms in the Kodiak Region —Successes and Challenges, Agriculture and Community Food Trends in Southeast Alaska, Food Preservation Basics, Starting a Cottage Food Business, Alaska Earthworms: What to Know, Beyond Compost—There are Other Ways to Build Your Humus, Risk and Risk Management for Agricultural Producers, Before You Start a Peony Farm, Try it Out — Lease, Work for or Market for an Existing Peony Farm, When Innovation is Not a Choice, Rhodiola rosea as a Commercial Venture, Extending the Growing Season and Maximizing the Production of Rhodiola, High Altitude Organic Farming of Rhodiola Rosea, Year Two: Starting a Rhodiola Farm, What Grows Well Where? Using a Mobile App Called Grow&Tell and Vegetable Variety Trials to Answer This Question, Ag in the Liberal Arts: the Louise Way, What to Know About Importing and Exporting Livestock in Alaska, Nutritional Quality of Locally Grown Alaska Produce, Making the Most of the Alaska Pest ID App, The Alaska Weed-Free Forage Program in Alaska, Land Clearing, Timber Harvesting, Timber Sale Contracts: Before the Harvest, From Seed to Harvest — Identifying the Basic Agricultural Determinants of Successful Rhodiola rosea Cultivation in Alaska, Rhodiola Diseases and Management, Methods in Accelerating Growth and Yield of Rhodiola rosea, Taking the Rhodiola Industry from Good to Great, Livestock Parasite Management, Livestock Parasite Management Worksheet, Livestock Nutrition and Feeding, Pasture Management, and Non-Timber Forest Products: A Shoulder Season Opportunity. The Sustainable Agriculture in Rural and Off-Road Alaska session was offered as a dual face-to-face and distance education event (webinar).  The conference was featured in an evening television newscast in Anchorage, Alaska's largest metropolitan area.  At the time, this was the largest gathering of presentations and topics with content featuring sustainable agriculture that had ever been offered at a single Alaska agriculture conference, in addition to providing some of the content at a distance utilizing Zoom.  Due to the success of this conference, the Alaska Farm Bureau has collaborated with this Western SARE program to create the first ever Alaska Farm Convention and Tradeshow.  The conference agenda and abstracts are attached.

Alaska's needs for information on livestock husbandry and basic knowledge to support agriculture and 4-H livestock programs has been growing.  In coordination with Colorado State University Extension, we were also able to support and organize a face-to-face and online Livestock Feeding, Nutrition, and Artificial Insemination Seminar/Webinar in Palmer as well as two days of Alaska Livestock Judges’ Training in Palmer and Soldotna. These events allowed for the development and coordination of professional relationships in the state that continue to improve agriculture and livestock operations today.  These programs reached youth as well as the typical livestock producer audience common in educational events.  Photos and fliers of the events attached.

Michael Fisher and Travis Taylor from Colorado State University Extension instruct the Alaska Livestock Judges' Training for Adults and Youth at the Matanuska Experiment Farm in 2018.

Livestock seminar 6-30-18 Livestock seminar 6-29-18 Livestock seminar 6-28-18 2020 Conf. Agenda Final 3.11.20 2020 Sustainable Ag Conference Abstracts