By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska's farmers and ranchers, whose work accounts for hundreds of jobs and contributes upward of $50 million into the state's economy annually, have found a new voice in Alaska Farm and Ranch News in Delta Junction.

"I saw a need for a consolidated farming publication in the state," said editor Michael Paschall. "There are different publications that come out of different organizations, but there was not a consolidated one."

Paschall is editor and publisher of TriDelta Inc., which publishes Alaska Farm and the Delta Wind, a weekly community newspaper at Delta Junction.

The first monthly edition of Alaska Farm and Ranch News hit mailboxes in January. The publication is backed by the Alaska Farm Bureau, which opted to cancel its own monthly publication and join forces with Paschall.

"I've gotten a lot of positive feedback," said Paschall, whose beat covers include education, biodiesel options and dairies.

Paschall's cover story in the June issue is about educators from Alaska's Interior gathering in Fairbanks to learn how to incorporate agriculture into their classroom curriculum, as part of the Alaska Farm Bureau's agriculture in the classroom program.

In the same issue, Paschall writes in depth about the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District commissioning a feasibility study to determine the suitability for growing canola and developing a biodiesel operation, and about the history of the pasteurization process for milk.

The 12-page publication is also filled with articles on subjects that included herding trials for sheep, issues regarding dairy, poultry and produce, in addition to other state and national news related to agriculture.

Bryce Wrigley, president of the Alaska Farm Bureau and district manager for the Salcha Delta Soil and Water Conservation District in Delta, said he is pleased with the publication.

"I think it is important that the news gets out and I think this is a good vehicle for it," he said.

Wrigley said there is a real need for better food security in Alaska and that farmers can help provide that.

"We have the capacity to produce from all the food groups, from grains to dairy, to sustain life, but we have to get this information to the public so they are aware it can be raised in Alaska, and to develop a market so farmers can be justified in raising these crops," he said. "We need to develop infrastructure on a small scale to provide for ourselves in an emergency."

Alaska Farm and Ranch News is a good vehicle for spreading that word, he said.

The Paschall family moved to the area five years ago. The family raises sheep, grows hay, and raises and trains border collies.

When he determined the need for a newspaper devoted to agriculture, Paschall contacted the Alaska Farm Bureau and struck a deal to incorporate their news into his publication. The deal also included subscriptions to all farm bureau members and all state legislators.

Paschall and the Alaska Farm Bureau were among those participating in the recent Global Foods Alaska 2009 conference in Soldotna, where they networked with others involved in Alaska's food chain.

Alaska's history in agriculture is most popularly linked to the early 1930s, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent Midwestern farmers north to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley during the depths of the Depression to start a new life there.

But agriculture in Alaska has much deeper roots, dating back to the 19th century.

A history of Alaska agriculture gathered by the Alaska Humanities Forum notes that Alaska agriculture has included fur farming and reindeer herding in addition to raising crops.

Russians farmed on Kodiak Island, the Kenai Peninsula and near Sitka in the 1800s.

Throughout the years, residents have tried raising crops and livestock in other areas of Alaska, primarily on small farms to serve local markets.

Even then, the cost of bringing food to Alaska from West Coast ports was high, so missionaries and prospectors arriving in Alaska attempted farming in an effort to be more self-sufficient. Before long, Roman Catholic missionaries at Holy Cross on the Lower Yukon River were producing vegetables, eggs, milk and meat, and selling their surplus to prospectors, miners, trappers and traders along the Yukon.

During the Gold Rush days, prospectors in the Cassiar fed animals on wild hay on the Stikine River delta and some miners planted small gardens near their claims.

In Circle City, in Alaska's Interior, some miners planted small gardens on the dirt roofs of their log cabins. In Juneau and Sitka, small dairies operated in the late 1800s.

Still, the cost of bringing farm machinery and fertilizer to Alaska was expensive and local labor costs were high. For many early Alaskans, fresh dairy products, fruits and vegetables were luxuries.

Paschall said he sees his publication as an organizing tool for agriculture in Alaska, albeit not the only voice of agriculture.

"There are different views on agriculture within the agriculture community," he said. "We have the responsibility to make the producers aware of the issues that are important to them. We are open to printing other people's opinions. I want to get the information and opinions out so that the agriculture community is aware of them."