No one will move from Palmer when new Agriculture Department created, state says

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has issued his Executive Order creating a new Department of Agriculture, but there are no plans to move people or facilities from the present Division of Agriculture location in Palmer, a spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources said.

That includes the division’s Plant Materials Center.

“The order takes effect on July 1, 2025,” following a mandatory 60-day period for legislative review,” said Lorraine Henry, the spokesperson.

“Hiring of Commissioner’s Office staff – including the Commissioner – for the new Department of Agriculture will ramp up after the 60-day legislative disproval period that began January 24,” Henry said in an email.

An action by lawmakers to reverse the order is considered unlikely. “There is no provision in the Executive Order to move the State of Alaska’s agriculture offices and Plant Materials Center from Palmer,” she said.

Mat-Su’s Sen. Shelley Hughes has warmly endorsed the idea of a separate department.

Hughes said creation of the department is a long-awaited step on strengthening food security and growing the state’s small agricultural industry. Having a cabinet-level Commissioner of Agriculture will address challenges and open opportunities, she said. Presently a Division of Agriculture is within the state Department of Natural Resources.

“This isn’t about big government or expanding state bureaucracy. This is about responsible and precise. Private sector producers who hav farmed in other states understand the difference a department makes to the industry and have requested this change,” Hughes said in a statement.

Having a department means a commissioner will have a seat at the governor’s cabinet tables and that “ag” issues will be elevated to a greater priority, she said. Hughes chaired the Alaska Food Strategy Task Force that met over the las two years to make recommendations and creation of a new department was the top priority of 21 recommendations.

Creating new departments, sometimes by splitting departments that have become too big, has not been unusual in Alaska. Recently the former Department of Health and Social Services was split into a new Department of Health and Department of Family and Children Services to allow a more focused approach to different core services.

The split is widely regarded to be successful in streamlining services.

Sometimes departments have been consolidated, too. Years ago there were separate departments of Community and Regional Affairs, which focused on rural Alaska, and Commerce, which focused on business regulation and economic development.

These two departments were folded into the new Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, or DCCED. While it reduced some costs it’s unclear whether this consolidation has improved services compared to the functioning of the previous two departments.

Rural communities, for example, sometimes feel they don’t get the focus of attention they once received, which is the reverse the current situation in agriculture.

Hughes hopes Alaska can copy the success of other states’ separate agriculture departments, however. “Ag departments exist in states throughout our nation, and this has allowed agriculture to become a significant factor in other states’ economies. By transitioning the Division of Agriculture into its own department we ensure farmers, ranchers and other producers will have the support they need to thrive,” Hughes said.