Local dairy co-op racing clock

PALMER — A new Mat-Su Valley milk cooperative is in a race against the pending expiration of the state-run Matanuska Maid Dairy.

An almost empty building near Trunk Road on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway is the new home of Mat-Su Valley milk. There’s a lot of work to be done in a few weeks, but the man in charge of building a new dairy plant sees the glass as half full.

“Milk needs a new home,” said Southcentral Dairy Venture Manager Kyle Beus. Beus and a helper sat in a small office last week turning pages and pages of handwritten notes into a game plan. “Sometime by mid-December ...,” Beus mused, referring to the time frame Mat Maid plans to stop accepting milk from local dairy farmers.

Beus said he had a productive meeting Thursday with Northern Lights Dairy of Delta Junction, which buys about 40 percent of the Valley’s milk supply and is aiding Southcentral Dairy’s efforts. On a tight deadline, setting up the plant is moving along “at a fairly nice pace,” he said. “I feel fairly comfortable with where we are.”

Getting the plant up and running is the next hurdle for the small dairy cooperative that has already cleared a few. The group formed as a response to the pending closure of the state-run dairy that bought milk from Valley dairy farms. It received a promise from the state that it could use the Matanuska Maid name. Dairy equipment was on the move to Alaska even as details of the cooperative’s lease signing were being decided.

More equipment is arriving from Point MacKenzie for transport to the new venture’s home in Palmer. It’s a familiar building, having formerly housed the Valley’s food bank. With Mat Maid set to stop accepting locally produced milk in about three to four weeks, the race is on to have the new Southcentral Dairy set up enough to accept that milk without a lag. Beus said unused equipment from the Mat Maid plant in Anchorage will be pulled and installed in the Palmer plant in about two weeks.

The coalition has paired Beus and Rob Wells, holders of two federal agricultural grants meant to build processing plants, with dairy farmers like Bob Havemeister and Wayne Brost. Support has come from barley growers and others who depend on the dairy industry.

“There’s been a lot of good support,” Beus said. “Everybody’s keeping their shoulders to the wheel. Trying to find a home for this milk is our biggest challenge.”

Beus said about 50 percent of the co-op’s needed equipment is procured, in the state or being built or rebuilt. “Some of the key pieces are not up here but are well on their way.”

They can’t arrive too soon. Sometime in mid- to late December the state will stop producing milk products and the 1,600 gallons of milk produced daily for Mat Maid must go somewhere. That’s the volume Beus plans to turn into cheese. Although cheese is Southcentral Dairy’s first product, Beus said the ultimate goal is to get the whole plant running as soon as possible and also produce ice cream and milk.

But Matanuska Maid milk will definitely take a powder from store shelves for awhile. Beus said he hopes that late winter or early spring will see Valley milk production begin again. He also hopes to open a retail outlet to feature local agricultural products, and make the dairy plant an agriculture destination.

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses-@frontiersman.com or call 352-2270.