Dairy cooperative a refreshing drink for an uncertain industry

Farmers are the most resourceful people.

Tractor’s busted? No problem; nothing a little 3-in-1 oil and a length of baling wire can’t handle. Stump’s too big to remove? Throw a tablecloth over it and serve up supper. Facing a sinking dairy industry? Build your own boat.

That’s what Mat-Su Valley dairy farmers are doing with the formation of their own cooperative partnership. With the future of state-owned Matanuska Maid Dairy in doubt, Alaska farmers who sell to the milk production facility have been understandably skittish. Without Mat Maid, the market for most of the state’s locally produced milk dries up. A dairy farm without a place to sell its milk won’t say solvent for long.

That’s why we’re pleased and proud to see this partnership, which includes former dairyman Kyle Beus and Mat-Su Valley Borough Assemblyman Rob Wells giving farmers a place to sell their milk. By focusing on producing a purely Alaska product of the highest quality, Wells and Beus will hopefully find a market. Forming this new cooperative, which became a done deal on Friday, is a great start.

The state Board of Agriculture and Conservation has tried to turn around the financially struggling Mat Maid Dairy, with no luck.

Now that the state dairy is on the seller’s block, farmers are being resourceful by going back to the roots of what made Mat Maid a successful dairy co-operative for many of its more than 70 years. The state took over the dairy in 1985 so it wouldn’t disappear.

Leave it to farmers to realize the answer was in the industry’s roots.

The partnership is a win-win situation all around. Beus and Wells have a guaranteed and steady flow of milk to process, while farmers have a stable buyer for their milk. As consumers, we all benefit by enjoying an absolutely fresh product that’s 100 percent Alaska Grown. The co-op is already discussing innovative practices like having a portable cheese production facility.

There is still much hard work to be done, including finding a site and getting the facility up and producing before Mat Maid finally bottles its last drop.

If it’s hard work that needs doing, leave it to farmers. We applaud Beus, Wells and Alaska dairy farmers and wish them well. In the near future, we hope to do much more than that by buying their products.

Now if we could only convince someone to open an all-Alaska-made cookie factory …