Ag has to be priority No. 1 in Alaska

Agriculture, in general, and 4-H Clubs, in particular are the cornerstone of every county and state fair.

Even as these fairs come to look more like amusement parks than celebrations of the agrarian way of life, they remain especially important in recruiting future generations of farmers and ranchers. They’re showcases of languid attempts to lure back those youngsters who might otherwise be swayed to city life, or might be discouraged by the prospect of a future in family farming, what with Monsanto owning the patent on all the seed anyway.

But in Alaska, that whole paradigm is turned on its head.

Necessity is the mother of invention, it’s said, and that being said, a state that imports more than 90 percent of its food from another continent, practically, and yet has more water and tillable land than anywhere else in the lower 48, speaks to an unbelievably whopping necessity.

Maybe that’s why not only Gov. Bill Walker paid a visit to Thursday’s opening reception of the Alaska State Fair, but so did USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator of Val Dolcini. Dolcini left the cozy confines of his Washington D.C. office to help award the Plagerman family of Delta Junction ‘Farm Family of the Year’ honors.

Whatever you think of Walker and his politics and constitutional interpretations of the powers of his office, you can’t doubt he’s a ‘vision guy’ when it comes to the future prosperity of his home state.

He kicked off Thursday’s reception in the Eckert Gardens by pointing out how with even a relatively minor increase in purchase of home-grown goods, Alaska could all but wipe out its much strained-over budget deficit.

Who couldn’t applaud that?

As the prelude to the awarding of the hay and bison farmers from Delta Junction wore on, Dolcini, who answers directly to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, spoke to the importance of family farmers like the Plagermans.

As if he didn’t know already already, Scott Plagerman accepted the plaque with the understanding of the added responsibility that comes with being a successful farmer in the Last Frontier.

“(Alaska agriculture) is very important and it needs to be pursued a lot harder than it is,” Plagerman said, now done with the ceremony and eager to spend his first Alaska State Fair with his family — ordinarily they’re too busy on the farm this time of year to make the jaunt to Palmer. “I think it’s starting to catch on; you’re seeing more interest in it. There’s more “Alaska Grown” signs and products, so, yeah, the future is getting better.”

The prize package included no more than the kind words, a plaque and a handful of admission tickets to the fair, but the importance of the success of Alaska farming wasn’t lost on Dolcini, who’s been the Administrator for the Farm Service Agency since 2014.

“Transportation and logistics issues are the biggest challenges in Alaska, and there’s a lot of challenges on a variety of fronts,” Dolcini said. “Alaskans rely on 95 percent imported food, and what we’re trying to do at the USDA is to develop the infrastructure find more folks like the Plagermans, who can grow food, raise beef and don’t have to worry about transportation issues… If we can do that, we’ll be in a better position here in Alaska.”

When a high ranking federal official refers to a particular state as ‘we’, he may just mean to be folksy. Or, maybe, he understands that food security in Alaska and food security for the nation, at this point, are pretty much one and the same.

In one of the most underappreciated headlines in all of 2015 — though not in North Dakota — Kansas, forever the king of wheat production, was passed by the Peace Garden State as the No. 1 producer of wheat in the country.

North Dakota had been known for durum and spring wheat, but is most uniquely known for sugar beet and soybean, and in recent years had even begun trying out corn, usually better birthed in more southerly climes.

So what happened, Kansas?

Climate change happened. Drought happened, and crops like sorghum, most associated with North Africa because of its ‘camel-like’ ability to store water, all of a sudden began to find the porridge just right in Jayhawk country.

Agriculture is moving north — way north, and way fast.

Take it from this greenest of Cheechakos, there’s a whole bunch more of us coming, Alaska, and we’re coming for your food.