Celebration Saturday marks preservation of 40 acres of ag land

PALMER — Much has changed in the Mat-Su Valley since that travel-weary band of Colonists arrived by train in Palmer May 10, 1935.

In some ways, Alaska State Fair and Alaska Farmland Trust “Farmland Palooza” celebration Saturday marks the intersection of the Valley’s agriculture history with its rapidly growing need for more housing.

With development on the rise in the Mat-Su Valley, land that had been used to grow food for generations is now being subdivided and turned into neat rows of homes to help house the Mat-Su Borough’s residents, which have doubled and doubled again in just the past 20 years, said Dean Phipps, marketing manager for the fair.

He said the fair in Palmer traces its roots to Colonists in 1936, who planted the seeds for the Alaska State Fair shortly after their arrival.

The fair itself owes much of its success to the hard work and dedication of Alaska’s agriculture community, Phipps said.

Alaska Farmland Trust executive director Louisa Yanes said the Valley’s housing boom is happening at the same time as Alaskans’ increased interest and demand for locally grown food.

“You can’t have farm fresh food without farmland,” she said.

A Farmland Palooza celebration Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. marks the signing of an agricultural easement agreement Nov. 24, 2014, to permanently protect 40 acres of fair-owned land as farmland. The party is planned on that same parcel of land, at 501 S. Inner Springer Loop — next to the former Hamilton Dairy Farm, across South Inner Springer Loop from the fairgrounds.

Yanes said she hopes the event will start the community thinking about its past, present and future.

“What do we want our community to look like in 50 years?” she asked.

The Valley’s current crop of farmers is aging and their children seem mostly uninterested in taking over the operations from their parents, Yanes said. That leaves farmland vulnerable to development, she claimed.

Phipps said the 40 acres in question had been eyed by developers. But the conservation easement means the land’s high-quality soil will be available for farmers to grow hay or other crops in perpetuity, he said.

The easement, which is now held by the Alaska Farmland Trust, was purchased with $250,000 in support from the fair, Phipps said. Other funding support for the total $640,000 easement purchase came from the Legislature and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Mat-Su Farm Bureau, and the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District.

Preserving farmland in Alaska is especially important because the state has limited soils with characteristics suitable for growing food and fiber, according to a USDA press release announcing the availability of $332 million in financial and technical assistance through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program to help acquire other agricultural easements.

“The fair’s substantial contribution to the program demonstrates our interest in the farming community and supports our agricultural mission,” said John Harkey, fair board president.

The agreement also preserves the fair’s right to use the field for overflow parking on busy fair days, Phipps said.

Music will be provided by Mountain Waxing, Carhartt Brothers, and C-String Band from 1 to 2 p.m. and from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

A brief program is from 2 to 2:30 p.m., followed by the All-Alaska Picnic at 2:30 p.m.

Food at the picnic is donated by Alaska growers and farmers and prepared by Bistro Red Beet.

The menu includes a wide range of Alaska Grown veggies, bread and baked goods made with wild-gathered and cultivated grains and veggies, and meat from local producers.

And, 200 OS Cross cabbage seedlings will be given away, along with growing tips from the experts and information on how to enter the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off at the fair.

Farmland Palooza vendors are Alaskan Grown Revolution; Winners Circle 4-H Club; Juice Jams and Jellies; Palmer High FFA; Theo Koppenberg; Three Branches; Bistro Red Beet; Non-Essentials; and Bushes Bunches.

The event will also include educational booths from Cooperative Extension Service, Fiber Arts, Grow Palmer, and Alaska Farmland Trust.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.