Can you raise cattle in alaska

I learned she was the daughter of a. She tries to serve as a conduit between farmers and the public on questions of food quality, food security and more. We expect to have a representative from the Division of Agriculture as well. Sign in. Forgot your password? Breeds that seemed naturally suited for Alaska included Holsteins a dairy cow developed in the Netherlands and first imported to America in the mids , Herefords an ancient breed from western England, red-bodied with white markings , and Galloways a Scottish breed that survives on poor forage and a cold, wet climate; white, curly coat with black points; first imported in mids.

The animals spend three-quarters of the year feeding indoors and only days per year grazing. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation reports that the Tanana Valley produces much of the state's beef, hogs, barley, hay, oats, potatoes, milk, and greenhouse plants and vegetables.

Farmers in the Matanuska Valley produce milk, hogs, beef, potatoes, oats, hay, and greenhouse plants and vegetables. According to the state's Division of Agriculture, numbers of beef cattle increased between and in the Southcentral and Tanana Valley areas. Meanwhile, the state noted a decreasing trend in the number of dairy cows. Reports also show 6, beef cattle were calved in Alaska in , with the greatest numbers from southwestern Alaska.

Of the total dairy cattle calved in , some were in the Matanuska Valley. Feral cattle, survivors of early ranching efforts in the Aleutians, have remained problematic through the years. In , U. Fish and Wildlife Service employees were called upon to shoot all of the wild cattle roaming Simeonof Island.

The experiment fell apart after seven years, largely due to the short growing season and the difficulty in getting produce to market. It, too, fell into financial ruin. Outside, the only sign of spring is the lengthening daylight. The clouds are dark and low, spitting flurries. Four feet of heavy snow still blankets the ground. But Garrity revels in the bad weather: After several warm, soggy years, she says, it finally feels like a real Alaskan winter.

But the volatile weather underscores the challenges that Alaskan farmers still face. The weather is also becoming more erratic and unpredictable. Garrity doubts that anyone starts a farm in Alaska because of climate change alone; rather, the increased affordability of high-tunnel greenhouses, hydroponics and other season-extending infrastructure are expanding the possibilities of what crops can be grown.

Four of the five top counties receiving discounted high tunnels from the Natural Resources Conservation Service are in Alaska.

Alaskans have tried commercial-scale agriculture in the past, and learned that growing food to export makes little sense in a state where transportation costs are high and shipping routes limited. Today, the new wave of farmers may have shed those assumptions, but they face their own challenges. In the rainy archipelago of Southeast Alaska, for instance, the owners of Farragut Farm have to wait for a tide high enough to float their skiff so they can row their produce out to a sailboat, then sail four hours to the nearest town to sell it.

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